


His Despair

by RissiUniverse



Series: From Despair to Hope [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dreamtale (Undertale), Angst, Biting, Broken Bones, Coercion, Dream does not know Passive and Nightmare are separate people, Dubious Consent, Dust doesn't interact, For first chapter:, Humiliation, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implications, Implied Sexual Content, Killer speaks like three times, M/M, Manipulation, Master/Pet, Nightmare and Passive are different, Nightmare is toxic, Passive Nightmare is called Despair, Possessive Behavior, Tentacles, Threats, Threats of Violence, Torture, Unhealthy Relationships, Violence, everyone already knows this, for the last chapter:, gets worse, im sorry I should have put that way sooner, mostly just Nightcest, niether does Cross, read the notes, starts out okayish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24925228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RissiUniverse/pseuds/RissiUniverse
Summary: Once the two beings were separated, Nightmare and Despair came to be as two different people. However, Nightmare is not sure he can exist without Despair, so he is forced to take care of him at the bare minimum, making sure he stays alive. He cannot risk losing him. Even still, that doesn’t mean he has to treat him right. Nightmare does as he pleases at the cost of Despair’s health.
Relationships: Nightcest, Nightmare/Nightmare
Series: From Despair to Hope [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803784
Comments: 25
Kudos: 112





	1. Nightmare and Despair

**Author's Note:**

> Just a fair warning: This fic includes what I would consider a toxic relationship. If you are sensitive to these things, please avert to elsewhere. 
> 
> For this chapter and the rest of the fic, read the fic's tags for warnings. 
> 
> Also as a fair warning, there is a part in the first chapter that includes Nightmare getting touchy with Passive without permission.  
> Actions such as these and ignoring the lack of consent are things going to occur throughout the fic, so if you are made uncomfortable by this, again, do not read this fic. Read at your own risk.

Despair had no idea how long he had been idle for. All he knew was after his corruption, he lost it, and soon  _ the corruption _ had fully taken control of his own body. All he could do was watch as his body, or what was once his body, move on its own accord. After a while, Despair had come to learn that this corruption, this being that had taken over his own body much like a parasite, had kept his name. He hadn’t bothered changing it… much to Despair’s disgust. Someone else using his name and dirtying it. It disgusted him. 

The corruption disgusted him. 

Every ounce of his being absolutely hated what the corruption did to him. Not only did the corruption trick him, or at least, he thinks it’s to blame for everything that happened, but this corruption is pretending to be him. It hadn’t even bothered to pick up a new name. 

  
  


For some time, neither of them had interacted. Despair would simply watch, wordless, speechless. No words to even protest against what Nightmare was doing with his own body. Mostly because, when he did speak a few words, Nightmare never responded or acknowledged what he said, so Despair just assumed that the corruption could not hear any of what he was saying. 

He was a ghost, maybe. A ghost that couldn’t move far from what was once his body. 

He was a ghost, right? 

Despair definitely felt like it. Being forced to watch everything and not able to affect it… to change it. He felt transparent, though from his perspective he didn’t physically look transparent. 

  
  
  
  


Nightmare was on another killing spree. Well, it was more of a suffering spree, since oddly Despair noticed Nightmare refrained from killing people as much as possible… but it was still shameful to Despair. He still detested it. It wasn’t what Dream wanted… Where was Dream, anyways…? He missed him a lot. He missed his smile. He missed his golden eyes and the sparkle it held. He missed the positivity radiating from him in waves, he missed the love he felt for the positive guardian, regardless of the positive feelings that were given to him by Dream. 

Despair realized he was in the wrong to assume Dream wasn’t trying to help him… But it was too late, now. He couldn’t apologize to Dream. 

Despair could only assume the worst. Dream was dead.

His only brother was dead. The only person that loved him was dead. The only person Despair cared about was dead. 

  
  


Despair would often cry to himself about that, holding himself as he was forced to watch Nightmare carry out his usual destruction. Forced to stay by his side and be dragged along to wherever Nightmare went. 

He regrets everything. 

He wished he could fix it, but there was literally nothing he could do. 

  
  


Despair blipped closer to Nightmare as he moved forward. He was in earshot, now, but as far as Despair was concerned, Nightmare wouldn’t be able to hear a word he said. 

Finally, Despair let out his feelings. He squeezed his sockets shut as he started to cry. “I wish things were different,” he croaked out. Nightmare had no visible reaction, simply continuing his spree. “This is  _ all my fault _ ,” he continued, still crying as he held his sides and sat on his knees. He bent over, his face close to the ground as he did so. “I don’t want this anymore. This isn’t what  _ he would want _ . I’m so, so sorry, Dream, please… forgive me,” he continued, spilling out all the words. They almost felt fuzzy in his mouth. He felt hazy, he felt like his insides were crumbling up like a piece of paper. He felt the dread of what he caused overcome him. He shuddered, starting to uncontrollably shiver. “I can’t, I can’t- This is my fault- Dream didn’t deserve this.  _ I never deserved him _ .” Despair choked, sobbing more. He could hardly let out any more noise other than wheezing as he sobbed. When he could catch his breath, he spewed out, screaming, “I just wish this could end!” 

Right as he had done so, he immediately started bawling. Despair was sobbing much more than he was before, wheezing uncontrollably as his weak body shuddered and shivered from this pain. 

He hadn’t noticed it, due to his loud sobbing, but someone was moving closer to him. Not like he would have to care, though, since everyone around him couldn’t see him and would always just phase right through him. He didn’t exist to anyone anymore. Although he hated it, at the same time, it was alright with him… At least he could never cause someone more harm ever again. He never would as far as he was concerned. 

  
  
  


“I can arrange that.” A cold voice spoke to him. He could hear him clearly. It was sharp and precise, just as it usually was, but it was much louder now. 

Despair’s eyes widened, though filled with tears as he gasped quietly. He choked, still sobbing and shuddering from what felt like his body physically crumbling apart into pieces. He looked up. In front of him was a blurry vision of the corruption. _Nightmare._ The _thing_ that had stolen his name, his identity, his future, his world, his **brother** , his **_everything_**. 

Despair curled his lips, hatred filling him. He hiccuped. “I hate you,” he said, still not aware that there was no one behind Despair for Nightmare to even speak to him. “I hate you so much. You took everything from me.” 

What Nightmare said next shocked Despair. “Oh? Yes, I can very much feel that, Night. I can feel your hatred. I can feel your loathing. You really do hate me, that much is for certain.” 

_ He could hear Despair. _

Nightmare came down to his knee, putting a finger on Despair’s chin and lifting it to face him. The tears still streaked his eye sockets, so his vision was still blurred, and he hadn’t taken a hand to wipe them away… but even still, he could see the bright teal eye on the goop of the corruption clearly. 

_ He could see and touch him. _

“But.”

Despair shuddered as his voice cut through the silence like a knife. 

“It doesn’t have to be this way.” 

  
  


To this, Despair furrowed his brows. The replaced look of shock changed to confusion. “ _ What? _ ” Was all he could utter, still hiccuping from the result of his sobbing and bawling. 

Nightmare had a smug look on his face. Despair wanted to wipe it clean off. “Oh, but that’s irrelevant…” Nightmare purred, tilting his head slightly as he added fingers to under Despair’s chin. “If you want this to end, having to watch the suffering of others as a result of what you caused… I can easily arrange that. Only with your consent, however,” Nightmare continued. The smirk on his face still remained, but his eye was half-lidded, giving him a condescending look that Despair despised. 

Despair was still utterly shocked, exhausted from the sudden breakdown that had just occurred. “What do you…” 

Nightmare leaned in close to his face, Despair flinched as he did so. “I can separate you from me, Night,” he whispered. “All it takes is your cooperation.” 

  
  


“You- What-?” Despair choked. “You can—You can do that!?” He exclaimed, hiccuping. “You can take me away from you?!” He added. Hope grew in his chest. He couldn’t help it. All he wanted was to stay away from this disgusting abomination of his own corruption. 

Nightmare laughed, removing the hand on his chin. He laughed, mocking Despair. Despair flinched. “Oh, you think that you can leave me? You think I will simply let you go?!?” Nightmare questioned, grinning. “You would be very,  _ very _ wrong. Very disappointed, even.” 

Just like that, all of the hope that was growing had died. 

“I may separate you, but you will be living in my castle. A section I have just for you, even,” he purred. “Where you’re safe. Where you can’t be harmed.” 

“Why—?!” 

“That is none of your concern,” Nightmare snapped. He smirked again, his teeth showing. “Now. I don’t have all day, Night, so make your choice. Do you or do you not want to be separated from me?” 

  
  


Despair glanced to the floor. He could see the slippers Nightmare was wearing through his blurry vision. His vision was gradually improving as he was crying less. 

A short hiccup escaped the ex-guardian as he looked back up at Nightmare. He furrowed his brows in anger, his lips curling in disgust as some of his face pinched. “Yes. Anything to be separated from a disgusting person like you,” he growled. 

“Good to hear,” Nightmare responded, his voice sounding sarcastic. He stood up, offering a hand to Despair to help him stand up. Despair spat at him, somehow the spit formed enough for him to be able to spit on his feet. With that, he stood up by himself. 

“Okay, what do I—”

Right as he had started speaking, a goopy appendage wrapped him around the throat and held him above the ground forcefully. Immediately, Despair reached for his throat, latching onto the tentacle and desperately trying to pull it off. He gasped for air, feeling his bones getting pressure for what was coiled around his throat. 

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Nightmare smirked, the corner of his grin widening. “You don’t spit on me. I am your  _ king _ . I am everyone’s king, whether you like it or not,” Nightmare barked. “You are to treat me with  **respect.** Do you understand?” 

Nightmare was still choking, but he wanted to stop being choked, so he frantically tried his hardest to nod his head as he clutched the tentacle around his neck. 

Nightmare laughed at his demise, loosening the tentacle. “Good.” With that, he dropped Despair. Despair landed on his knees, gasping for breath as he clutched the snowy ground. He looked back up at Nightmare, hatred gleaming in his eyes. 

“I did what I had to do,” Nightmare said, excusing what had just occurred as he shrugged nonchalantly. 

Despair scoffed, standing up again. He clenched his fists. Fresh tears pricked his sockets, he realized. Must have been when he was being choked. 

  
  


Nightmare was already back to his regular demeanor. “Now. There’s just  _ one thing _ , before we separate, ‘Night.’” 

“What is it,” Despair growled, guttural. 

“You need a different name, don’t you, Nightmare? As of course, that is pretty much my new moniker,” Nightmare said snidely, turning away slightly from Despair. 

Despair let out another guttural growl from his throat, scowling greatly and seething. He wanted so badly to spit back at Nightmare, and Nightmare could feel that want as he smirked smugly, but Despair remembered the pain of being choked and refrained. Shakily, he sucked in a breath. “ _ Fine _ ,” Despair snapped. “You have any  _ cute _ ideas??” 

Nightmare’s expression became even more condescending, if that was even possible, as he looked down at the angry ex-guardian. “Oh, I don’t have any  _ you _ would like.” 

“Then why not how I’m feeling!?!” Despair retorted, throwing his arms up. “How about Despair!?” 

“Edgy, but suiting. It works, either way, and it does suit you very well,” Nightmare commented sarcastically. 

Despair seethed. “Fine then!” He snapped. 

“So it’s settled. Despair, then,” Nightmare proclaimed, taking a step toward Despair. 

Despair straightened his position, puffing up, almost. He didn’t take a step back. Nightmare didn’t acknowledge this, but he had something come to mind, simply dismissing it. 

  
  


“Now, ‘Despair,’ give me your hand.” 

“ _ Why _ .”

Nightmare rolled his eyelight. “Because I want your hand in marriage,” he retorted. “No. Give me your hand so we can separate.” 

Despair did not appreciate the joke, but he chose to ignore it, as much as he hated it. “Fine.” He offered his hand, prompting it to Nightmare as he requested. 

Nightmare’s eyelight flicked to the hand back to Despair’s face. He tilted his head, his only showing eye squinting as he playfully commented, “Good boy.” He took Despair’s hand, squeezing it slightly for good measure. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Despair snapped. “Don’t say that ever again.” 

“No promises, little Despair,” Nightmare hummed. He stepped back, and with a yank, he pulled Despair forward. 

  
  
  


Despair could feel something shifted, something about him changed. Suddenly, he felt cold. He could feel the air around him change. He could definitely feel the goopy hand against his own. He could feel and hear the crunch of snow beneath his feet. 

He had no idea what Nightmare had done, but whatever it was, it worked. 

  
  


Nightmare let go of Despair’s hand, simply watching him from behind. 

Despair looked at his hands. They looked the same, but they felt entirely different. It was like everything clicked into place. 

He looked around him. He started shivering from the cold air of Snowdin. 

“It… It worked?” 

“Yes,” Nightmare said. 

Despair’s awe-struck face fell to disgust. “Shut up.” 

“Whatever you say,” Nightmare hummed nonchalantly, his voice almost sounded like it was singing… but it wasn’t. 

Despair was back to seething again. 

He was holding his sides, now. Despite being a skeleton, he felt very cold. “Just get me out of here already,” Despair said. “If I’m going to have to live in your castle, I might as well get started.” 

“Ooh, in a hurry to get there?” Nightmare asked, standing next to him and brushing his side lightly. 

Despair pulled away from him, turning his back from him. “Get away from me, you monster.” 

“I’m not the one who caused me to exist, and I’m  _ certainly _ not the one who lashed out to my brother and blamed him for everything you’ve done.” 

Despair whipped around, preparing to slap Nightmare, but he flinched upon seeing Nightmare’s glowing, teal eye. It was glowing much brighter now. It was as if to dare him, to tease him to slap him. “Go ahead,” it dared. “Give it a shot. See what happens.” 

Despair cringed, his eye sockets squinting as his eyelights narrowed. He put his hand down, clutching his fists. “You’re a sick and  _ twisted _ bastard.” 

“Thank you,” Nightmare agreed sarcastically, his grin spreading across his face as he perked a brow. 

“Shut. Up,” Despair snapped, turning away once again and walking a few paces away from the corruption behind him. He felt himself shudder out of anger as he again held himself, shivering from the cold as a bonus. 

Every ounce of Despair wanted to leave Nightmare. He hated him so badly. He hated him with every ounce of his being. He hated him with all his might. Everything he had in him. 

  
  


“Let’s get going, shall we?” Nightmare hummed. 

“Fine.” Nightmare scowled, lip curling for the umpteenth time. 

He knew very well that running away with Nightmare, someone who had appendages attached to his back, was a very bad idea. He saw what he did with those. People who would run away, he would pull them by the leg. Despair would watch as they were forced to fall to the ground, only to be picked up and hung upside down, much to their demise, again facing Nightmare… but not like before, as they were upside down. 

Forced to face him. 

One person was even stabbed through the chest after that. How delightful. 

  
  
  


“Don’t move,” Nightmare said quietly. Despair froze. 

After just a moment, he felt a hand place on his shoulder. Despair jumped, whipping his head to face the side where it was. He didn’t see anything, and before he could face the other side, a hand cupped the opposite cheek. The person holding his cheek, being Nightmare, moved his head to face him. 

Once Despair was forced to face his gaze to Nightmare, he grimaced, scowling and seething. He almost tore away from him, but Nightmare’s teal eye glowed brighter as his eye’s upper “lid” lowered. “I said don’t move,” he whispered softly. It was so quiet… but against the silence, it was all to be heard, and it made Despair freeze. 

  
  


“We don’t want a repeat, yes?” Nightmare cooed, his head moving close to Despair’s. 

Despair furrowed his brows in utter confusion, but he disliked all of what was happening to him. He thought back to being choked. Forcefully, he shuddered. 

“Good. You remember.” Nightmare grinned sadistically, his eye slightly squinting. He leaned his head in close to the crook of Despair’s neck, tilting up his head to watch Despair’s horrified gaze as he separated his teeth, a teal tongue gliding across his teeth. “Oh, what a shame it would be for me to remind you…” he whispered, “Wouldn’t that just be  _ awful _ …” As he said the last word, his grin widened to a frightening extent, his eye squinting as he stared down Despair. 

The hand on Despair’s shoulder squeezed him before letting go, gliding down to his spine. It started making a circular motion. 

This made Despair jump, flinching. “Get your hands—”

“Nah-ah-ah-ah-ah,” Nightmare interjected. He moved his head just a bit closer to Despair, who had his head lifted as he stared down at Nightmare. They were touching, now. “That’s not how you speak to me. I’m your king, remember, Night. You don’t say no to me.” 

Despair shuddered. He felt tears prick his eye sockets again. He clenched his teeth, grimacing still, but instead of seething he was concerned now, his brows furrowing upward. 

  
  


Nightmare moved his head to Despair’s side, his eye still trained on Despair’s gaze. When he moved, Despair paid full attention to him. “You are going to get used to this,” Nightmare purred. The circular motions on his spine pressed more into him and he held back from making a noise of disturbance. 

Despair so desperately wanted to protest against this, but he couldn’t. He choked on any noise that he dared to try and summon in his throat. He wanted to insist this to stop. He wanted to spit on Nightmare, to slap him across the face, to bite his face off. Yet, all he could do was sit here and not move. He couldn’t move. Despair was too afraid of being choked. 

And, who knows. It could be more than just a choke. It could not only be a worse choke, a longer one, but it could also be separated limbs, it could be torture, it could be stabbing, it could be anything… It could be anything worse than choking against the tendrils above the ground. 

Despair knew Nightmare wasn’t merciful. He wouldn’t give him death. 

  
  


Nightmare moved his face away from Despair’s vision. His eyelights narrowed as he tried to watch him, but he was too afraid to move, he was frozen. He couldn’t move his neck to see what Nightmare was up to. 

Nightmare pressed his mouth to the side of Nightmare’s skull, where his ear would be if he had one. That was when Nightmare whispered ever-so-quietly, “It will be fun having you in the castle.” 

Despair felt tears pooling at his eye sockets as he squeezed them tightly. 

  
  
  


_ This was going to be so much worse than what he thought. _

He was going to hate every second of his life. 


	2. Throne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The same warnings as before applies to this chapter, being Nightmare gets touchy. This time, Despair (Passive) is portrayed as not minding it.  
> Nightmare also becomes possessive of him and generally just being a shady individual. Again, if this makes you uncomfortable, click away. 
> 
> This chapter is rather suggestive but it's not quite rated explicit.
> 
> Really, this chapter isn't a need-to-read to understand the following plot, but it does push it forward and gives context. Up for you to decide if you want to read it or not

Despair was in his room, reading a book. He had a small bookcase… When he ran out of things to read, Nightmare would remove the old ones and replace them with new ones. Despair had no idea where these books were coming from, maybe somewhere outside of his part of the castle, but he didn’t bother asking to see it. 

He wanted to see the library very badly. He loved books, he loved them with a passion… But he had no idea how Nightmare would react to such a request. 

So, with that, Despair never bothered to ask. 

  
  


The particular book Despair was reading was some type of romance. Currently, the two characters were in a heated kiss… Something about it had Despair on edge. Not in an uncomfortable way, though it did make him shift uncomfortably as he sat on the floor, but there was something else about it. 

He didn’t mind it much, though. Maybe he was just hungry. 

  
  


Speaking of which. Despair took his eyes off of the book, looking up at the door and slightly furrowed his brows. When was Nightmare coming back?

Despair’s expression eased as he let out a slight hum, musing to himself as he looked back down at the book. He tried to keep reading, but he just wasn’t into it anymore, so he slapped the book shut and slid it back on the shelf where it came from. 

He started humming absentmindedly, nothing in particular was on his mind at the moment. He didn’t know what to think about, other than Nightmare. 

  
  


Despair stood up, brushing off his legs briefly. After that, he straightened his position as he half turned to look at the window on his wall. 

It looked much like a bay window, but it was smaller and in a half diamond shape. It was longer than it was wide. Enough to seat one person, maybe two if they crammed together. 

Still, Despair sat on it occasionally. Either when he was reading or when he wasn’t. 

Despair stepped forward, still humming. He stopped when he reached the window. He wasn’t sitting on it yet, just letting his purple eyelights flick across the surface of the window. He focused on outside, seeing the dark meadow with the sunset outside. It wasn’t like any ordinary sunset. It was a darker one. That was how this world worked, after all… Everything was much, much darker. 

He was used to it, though. The darkness of everything. To him, it was normal now. There was nothing wrong with anything. Not even the ominous forest just outside the castle’s area. 

Inside the castle’s gates was a garden filled with white, blue, lavender, and even teal flowers and plants. Bushes, trees, everything. There were fountains and other decorations that really put the garden together… Not to mention that cute white pebble pathway that led through the trimmed grass. 

At the thought of someday walking through the garden, Despair softened, some hope fluttering in his chest. Maybe Nightmare would trust him enough to wander the garden someday-! 

“What are you thinking about?” A dark, all-too-familiar voice asked. 

Despair whipped around on his heels. Despair noticed it was Nightmare, holding a tray of food for dinner. Despair must have gotten distracted to the point he didn’t hear the door open. Either that or Nightmare teleported here, but Despair wasn’t sure. 

“Oh! I was just…” Despair started. He half-glanced at the garden, furrowing his brows briefly just before lightening his expression again and looking back to Nightmare. “I was just wondering if…” Despair trailed off. He shook his head. “Never mind.” 

“No, tell me,” Nightmare insisted, setting down the tray on top of the small bookcase. “I insist.” 

Despair bit his lip. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to ask Nightmare. 

It would be best to start with the library and work his way to the garden, right…? Right. 

Despair sucked in a breath quickly before exhaling. “Okay. Well. I was wondering… if I could see your library?” He asked, looking up at Nightmare. “Please?” 

  
  


There was silence for a heartbeat. All the hope that was in Despair’s chest immediately died as he sucked in yet another breath. He hoped that it wasn’t a mistake asking for Nightmare’s permission to see his library. 

He just really loved books. He couldn’t help that. 

Finally, Nightmare grunted in response. “Later.” 

Despair tilted his head slightly. “Later…?” 

“That’s what I said.” Nightmare stepped closer to Despair casually. “Later, when I’m ready to show you.” 

Despair nodded, biting his lip some. He felt apprehensive due to the question being asked. Memories he had repressed forcefully resurfaced on the back of his mind, threats of being hurt, adrenaline, images of running away down the endless purple halls… He again would have to repress those. It was for the best. 

  
  


“Here. I’ll give you dinner, and when you’re done, I’ll let you come to my throne room,” Nightmare offered gently. “How does that sound?” 

Despair’s face lit up at the suggestion as he looked up at Nightmare hopefully, relaxing his tense body. “You mean it? You’ll let me out of here?” He asked. 

Nightmare nodded. The small smile on his face became somewhat of a smirk. “Yes, just as long as you go wherever I go and don’t run away, you understand?” 

Despair nodded gleefully. “Yess!” 

Nightmare turned away, getting the tray from the bookcase. “Splendid. It’s a deal, then,” he said, grabbing the tray of food and walking back to Despair. 

  
  


Despair moved an inch forward to the bed to find a good sitting place to eat, but a tentacle wrapped around his waist briefly without capturing his arms and picked him up. Despair squeaked in surprise as he was lifted up and set down on the window’s seat. 

“Here,” Nightmare said. He moved forward, sitting down on his knees as he set the tray down on Despair’s lap. “I’ll feed you this time.” 

Despair nodded. “Alright-”

* * *

Once the tray was empty and there was no more food left, all that was left was a warm cup of milk, Nightmare put the cup to Despair’s lips and let him drink. “There you go. That’s good, drink it up.” 

Despair’s hands lifted to grab the cup, wanting to drink it himself, but Nightmare’s firm grasp kept the cup still. No matter how much Despair wanted to drink it faster, Nightmare was not allowing it. 

After finally the milk was finished, Nightmare set the cup back down on the tray. 

“Very good. You ate all of your food. You did very well,” Nightmare commented. The corruption picked up the tray and stood up. “I’ll be right back, little Despair, and I will let you come into my throne room.” 

Despair nodded slightly. “Okay-!” He chirped, watching as Nightmare half turned away. 

Just before leaving, he had a tentacle pat the top of Despair’s head. “Good boy.” After that, he walked away and opened the bedroom door and stepped out with the tray in his hands, using a tentacle to open and close the door. 

  
  


Despair let out a huff. There was always some type of aura on Nightmare that made Despair feel like there was a heavy weight on his chest. He always chose to ignore it, though… There was nothing he could do about that, he figured. 

  
  


He let his eyes drift around the room, taking in all of the purple decorations. He focused on all the little things, taking in everything out of sheer boredom. 

The ex-guardian did not have to be bored for long, though. 

Soon, Nightmare returned. He opened the door, resting his hand on the handle. “Back,” he announced to Despair. 

Despair immediately paid attention to who was in the doorframe. He nodded, sliding out of the window and walking to Nightmare. He felt small against his large frame. Despair was slightly smaller than the average person, so he felt like a mouse compared to Nightmare, albeit there wasn’t too much of a difference to their height and size. 

It didn’t help that Nightmare had quite the negative aura that made others feel smaller and smaller compared to him. Despair was just especially weak to this aura, as he’s been here for a while and has let it sink in on him. Even the castle had the same aura, but it wasn’t nearly the same as Nightmare’s. Despair could get used to the castle’s, that much was easy. 

  
  


Nightmare let Despair move ahead. Despair glanced up, looking for reassurance. Nightmare simply nodded, nudging him with a tentacle. 

Despair flinched at the contact, taking a few steps forward into the hallway. He looked around, the collar around his neck jingling a bit from the bell it had as his movements were faster due to his excitement. Finally, he had permission to be elsewhere, in a whole other part of the castle. 

Nightmare clicked the door shut and walked beside Despair and stopped. It took Despair a second, but soon he realized Nightmare was beside him. He stepped aside some, looking up at Nightmare. 

“Relax, little Despair,” Nightmare purred, lifting his chin with his hand. “You do have my permission.” 

Despair nodded slightly. 

Nightmare let go of his chin and turned away, walking towards the hall. “Come on. Let’s get going, little Despair,” Nightmare said gently, his voice sounding like a hum. 

Despair nodded, following close behind him. 

Since Nightmare was bigger, even at a casual walking speed, he was moving faster than Despair. Despair had to speed walk to keep up with him and remain just behind him. He was fine with that, though—it gave him something to do, something to pay attention to. 

  
  


As they walked, Despair looked to and fro, finally being able to calmly pay attention to his surroundings. He could see the decorations around him, look at the paintings, look at the flowers and other things that were left in the hallways… keeping them from being ominously bare. 

Then again, wouldn’t Nightmare want his hallways to be more ominous? 

Maybe he didn’t feel the need to, since no one traversed these hallways. Yeah, it was probably that. 

  
  
  


Finally, Nightmare stopped. Despair had coincidentally stopped paying attention right at that moment, so he kept walking, running into Nightmare. He squeaked, stepping back frantically. “I’m sorry-!!” 

Nightmare glanced back, lifting a brow. “What?” He asked. Nightmare’s expression of mild confusion changed to realization. “Ohh.” He smiled. “Don’t worry, Despair. It was nothing,” he said. He faced forward again. 

Despair let out a huff of air. He looked ahead of him, peering around Nightmare to see a giant door. Except it lacked a handle. 

  
  


“Here is the way out,” Nightmare explained to him. “Through this door. It leads out of this part of the castle.” As he said that, he looked back at Despair, his teal eye glowing some. 

Despair flinched. Usually, that was a warning sign, but it was much worse all the other times of importance. “Yeah,” he said quickly. He felt himself fiddle with his hands. _Don’t hurt me_ , he pleaded silently. 

Nightmare chuckled, looking forward again. He made a door handle out of goop, turning it and opening the door. Despair stepped back, rushed, realizing Nightmare was stepping back as he opened the large door. 

The door swung back to the wall as Nightmare opened it. Nightmare stepped forward. He looked back at Despair. “Come on, don’t be shy, Despair. You’re with me,” he reminded him softly. 

Despair nodded, shakily moving forward. He didn’t want to be hurt. He didn’t want to make any mistakes right now. 

A tentacle ushered Despair, pushing him. “Relax.” Despair grunted quietly in response as he was pushed forward. When he looked back, he saw the door was now shut with a large click. Nightmare looked forward again, walking past Despair. “Come on.” Nightmare rested his hands in his jacket’s pockets. 

Despair took in a breath, rushing forward to follow Nightmare closely yet again. 

  
  


Like before, going through the winding corridors, before finally they were met with a very large room. 

Despair’s eyes flicked to above, looking at the ceiling, which was decorated with a dark blue painted sky. “Whoa,” Despair murmured. 

Nightmare looked back, smirking. “There’s more than just the room itself,” Nightmare suggested. 

Despair looked back at Nightmare. “Hm?” 

“I’m not just talking about the throne, either,” Nightmare continued. He pointed to a shadowy-looking, black figure beside his throne. There were two figures, actually, as Despair realized. 

“Oh-?” Despair murmured. 

Nightmare’s smirk became more of a wide, thin grin. “Watch.” With the snap of his fingers, one of the skeletons moved forward to stand in front of the two. Nightmare looked down at them with his usually playful, degrading stare. “Now, who do you belong to?” He asked, the most sinister, thin, long grin spread across his face as his lid lowered, a teal color glowing from his eye. The figure did not respond, simply remaining at a still position. Nightmare snapped his fingers, and the skeleton finally responded. 

“Nightmare-!” They croaked. It felt like it almost didn’t want to say it, but it was forced to. The words escaped them forcefully. 

“That’s correct,” Nightmare replied slowly. Nightmare watched the figure closely, his eye squinting at it, much in a teasing manner… but it was much more sadistic and angry than Despair was used to. Despair felt as though something was wrong… but he wasn’t quite sure what. Nightmare leaned closer to the skeleton. “Now, tell me. Who are you? I can’t seem to remember.” 

The skeleton did not move. Nightmare snapped his fingers again. The skeleton responded, “Nobody-! I live to only serve Nightmare. I belong to Nightmare and Nightmare only.” 

Nightmare laughed, standing fully again. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot you’re nobody. Just like the rest of all of you!” Nightmare boomed. He was still laughing after that. Despair could feel the sadism coming off of Nightmare in waves. A twist formed in his stomach.  
  


Despair at this point was concerned. He glanced from Nightmare to the skeleton, then back to Nightmare. “What…? What’s going on?” 

Slowly, Nightmare’s laughs quieted down. The goopy corruption let out a sigh as he turned to Despair. He waved his hand lazily, sending away the skeleton. “Go away,” he told it. The skeleton rushed away back to the side of the throne. 

“Night…?” Despair asked, looking at Nightmare with confusion. 

“Now, Despair. You see those pathetic creatures over there?” Nightmare asked. 

Despair glanced at the skeletons and back at Nightmare. “Yes..?” 

“Those are shadow Papyri.” Nightmare grinned widely. “They do everything I say, everything I want them to. They have no purpose other than to serve me.” 

Despair nodded slowly. He wasn’t sure what to do with this information. The twist in his nonexistent stomach still remained. 

  
  


Nightmare set a hand on Despair’s head, patting him gently. “Now aren’t you glad you aren’t being forced to move, aren’t being controlled, not being pulled by my strings?” He asked. 

  
  
  


Part of Despair was screaming. Something in the back of his mind hammered into him. He held back from saying what he wanted to, which was something about how that was already true.

Nightmare set a kiss on Despair’s forehead. “You should be glad, you _choose_ to submit to me.” 

Despair flinched, mostly confused by that statement. It kind of hurt, actually, from what Despair thought it meant. Before he could ask what it meant, to clarify, Nightmare stood up fully again and boomed, “You! Make me a chocolate milk. Leave, come back in an hour with it.” He ordered that to one of the skeletons, snapping his fingers. 

The same skeleton as before rushed forward and past Despair and Nightmare, scurrying away like it’s life depended on it. It probably did, too. 

  
  


After a moment of silence, Nightmare simply staring at the way the Papyrus went, he again let his gaze settle on Despair. Despair looked up at him, brows furrowed slightly upward. 

“Come on, you can relax,” Nightmare said softly. 

_Can I?_ Were the words that immediately came into his mind. 

Nightmare picked up Despair from under his arms and moved to his throne room, sitting down and setting Despair next to the chair arm, setting him right over his legs. “There. That’s better.” 

  
  


Suddenly, it felt different. Sitting on Nightmare’s lap like this. He almost felt like some type of pet. It didn’t help that he was wearing a purple collar with a bell on it… 

Despair couldn’t say he liked the feeling of being a pet, almost. It felt degrading and he hated that, but there was nothing he could do about that. He was sitting on Nightmare’s lap, and he was someone that could hurt you in any way imaginable. All it took was a nudge in the wrong direction and he could choose to snap. 

Nightmare set a hand on Despair’s head. Without saying a word, he slid his head into the crook of Despair’s neck. Despair knew what was to come, but for some reason, he didn’t mind it as much. He tilted his head, moving it away from Nightmare’s head, allowing his neck to become open and vulnerable to the corruption. 

Nightmare chuckled darkly. It made Despair feel weak, suddenly. 

With that, the hand on Despair’s hand let go. Instead, both of his hands moved to the collar. The hand on his head was replaced with a tentacle, which curled and flexed, making Despair shiver at its cold touch. Quickly, Nightmare removed the collar. As he moved it aside, he set it on the opposite arm of the throne, not even bothering to move his head to look. He moved closer, pressing his teeth on Nightmare’s neck. 

It was the sensitive part of his neck, too… Where there was a dark mark created by the same person he was sitting with. Despair shivered at the touch, letting out a small cry. 

“Shhhh, shh-shh-shhh,” Nightmare whispered, humming as he kissed the bruise on his neck ever-so-softly. At his touch, Despair made a tiny squeak of surprise. He wasn’t expecting Nightmare to be so gentle. 

Despair loved the gentle touch. 

  
  


Nightmare continued planting small kisses on his neck. Despair bit his lip as he watched Nightmare. The more Nightmare kissed, the more he moved down. He pried apart the cuffs of Despair’s shirt, slowly moving down. Despair refrained from making a noise of surprise. Instead, he released a guttural gasp that he cut off by biting his lip again. From hearing the sound, Nightmare let out a short chuckle. “Oh…” he purred. He moved his forehead onto Despair’s chin. “Do you like these kisses?” 

Despair shivered. He felt very inclined to answer. Gleefully, frantically, he responded, “Yes, yes !! I do…!” 

“Do you want more?” Nightmare rumbled. 

After a moment, he took in a breath and exhaled. “…Yes.” 

Nightmare grinned. “Good..” 

Without saying any more, Nightmare again moved his teeth to his bruise, kissing it twice softly. He moved down again, continuing his trail of kisses to where he left off. That was when he pried open the shirt more, the most it could without opening, and planted kisses as far as the shirt would allow it. 

Despair groaned quietly. These soft kisses were absolutely killing him. He loved them. 

They almost reminded him of someone, but he dismissed the thought, as he couldn’t quite form an idea as to who it was exactly. 

  
  


“Are you enjoying yourself, Despair?” Nightmare asked cheekily. 

Despair didn’t realize it was mostly sarcastic, taking the question seriously as he nodded. “Yes-” 

“Good, good,” Nightmare murmured absentmindedly. 

He moved himself off of Despair. Despair felt open without him over his chest. Despair made a noise of complaint before using his hands to put his shirt together again, though he didn’t fix it, he simply covered his chest. “Why would you…?!” 

He was interrupted by the cold, slick feeling of a tentacle slipping under his shirt near his buttox. He gasped, loudly, out of sheer surprise and shock. “Oh-!!” He chirped, his face blushing furiously. 

Nightmare let out a short laugh. “Hah! You thought I’d stop just like that?” He questioned. 

Despair squeezed his sockets shut. He didn’t reply, simply arching his back and shivering at the cold, cold touch of the tendril. He paid attention to every tentacle currently on his body… That being the one on his head, caressing him almost, and the one on his back, pressing into the crevices and bends of his spine. Soon, those two were not the only appendages laid on his body. Yet another followed, pressing into his hip away from Nightmare through his clothes. It moved forward, pressing into him as it moved, until it found his femur, sliding down and curling around it possessively. It didn’t squeeze, simply tightening slightly, pressing itself into him, almost seeking his attention. 

Despair didn’t know what to do, say, or feel. He didn’t even know what to think, though thinking didn’t matter right now. “Ah-” Despair mused quietly. As the tentacle on his leg curled around him and stopped at his knee, the others were still moving. The one on his hand slid to his neck, caressing it, still curling around him. The one on his spine traveled more and more up, very slowly, making sure to hit every single one of Despair’s spots. With each press, Despair let out cries of what felt like pleasure, trying his best to hold them in and failing. 

Despair cracked open a socket, realizing he had them squeezed shut. He let his one-eyed gaze travel to Nightmare. Nightmare had a wide grin on his face, simply watching Despair on his lap. 

“Oh… do you have a problem?” He asked. “It looks like you have something on your neck,” he murmured, suggesting the tentacle on his neck. He leaned in close to Despair. 

Despair opened both of his sockets at that movement, still squinting them as he watched Nightmare. He was once biting his lip harshly, but now he opened his mouth slightly in awe of what was happening to him. 

He was enjoying the tendrils’ movements… He didn’t think that was even possible until now… 

Despair watched Nightmare briefly. Upon him getting closer, he shut his sockets again. “Hnnngh,,” he groaned. Despair thought where this might be going, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for something like that. Yet, he couldn’t speak up about that. 

“Mmmm…” Nightmare hummed. “I can sense you’re unsure.” 

“Hmm?” Despair mused, opening his eye sockets again halfway. He scrunched his face as he clenched his teeth, feeling the tentacle on his spine move up his back and continuing its conquest through under his shirt. 

Nightmare never answered what he meant. 

  
  


None of their voices spoke up. It made Despair feel slightly awkward. He felt uncomfortable, now, the tentacles shifting over his body, and the feelings he might have had before were lost. 

Or, at least, that was what he thought. 

He let his guard down. The tendril on his back suddenly poked and pressed into **the** sensitive spot between his neck and his spine. It had pressed _right_ into that. Out of surprise, he let out a loud gasp and held in his breath. He wasn’t expecting that at all. The feelings that he thought were gone now, came rushing back. He felt heated again, a blush spreading on his face yet again out of the embarrassment. 

At the feeling of those forbidden emotions rushing right back into him, he couldn’t help but exhale the air he held in. It sounded more like a drawn-out, exhaled moan. 

  
  


“Mmmm,” Despair murmured. “Night-” 

“Yes?” Nightmare asked. His voice was low and it vibrated through Despair, as his mouth was pressed on his shoulder. 

Despair shivered slightly. He still was not used to that. He didn’t know how to word what he wanted to say, regardless. All he could utter was, “I-”

Suddenly, all of the tendrils flew right off of him. The one on his legs uncurled and let go, the one on his neck and head lifted off of him, and the one on his spine slipped out from under his shirt. All of the tendrils returned to their owner, their master, Nightmare. 

Despair hadn’t realized he had grown used to the feeling of the tentacles over his body. He felt bare without the soothing, lax touch of the tentacles holding him. 

As a result of this, Despair clutched Nightmare’s shirt, who had moved off of him and laid back into his throne—pressing his own body on Nightmare’s as he sat on his lap, quivering. “No, no-” Despair complained. The words escaped him. “Please-” He pleaded. He didn’t know what he was begging for, but it was for those tentacles to be laid back on him, for the pleasure of them moving over his body. They felt soothing, and the feelings they had created filled him with the need for more. With the lack of it, the need only heightened. “Nononoooo,” he whined. 

“What exactly are you asking for, Despair?” Nightmare cooed, lifting Despair’s chin to face him. 

Despair arched his back. He bit his lip. He wasn’t sure, but he definitely wanted those tentacles back on him. “I want you to keep doing what you were doing-” Misery answered finally. “Please-?” 

  
  


Nightmare let out a chuckle. A chuckle that felt more like mocking. 

Despair groaned in response, impatient as he buried his forehead into his chest. “Don’t laugh, Night-!” He complained. His eye sockets were squeezed shut once more as he flushed from embarrassment. It felt so wrong to ask, yet he knew he wanted it, so he still had to ask… He wasn’t getting into much, was he? 

“Well, since you asked _so nicely_ …” Nightmare whispered. 

As he said that, Despair felt a tentacle press on his back through his shirt, curling and pressing into his spine once again. Two both curled around his legs, which his legs were in a different position now since Despair had moved to directly in front of Nightmare while being on his lap still, he was sitting on his legs. Despair huffed quietly. He could feel the feelings of need become quenched, but they still remained thirsty. 

Despair clutched Nightmare’s clothes tighter as he let out a huff of impatience. What are these feelings, and who are they to tease him? 

  
  


Nightmare cupped Despair’s cheeks and lifted them again. Despair’s eyes opened fully, surprised. He squinted his eyes as the tentacles all over his body again pressed and moved over him, making motions back and forth, some moving in circles. 

“Ahh…” 

“If you want this to continue, you are going to do what I say, understand?” Nightmare asked his voice low and serious, and yet it was edged in a purr. Regardless, Despair didn’t want the feeling of being bare yet again, so he already knew what his own response would be. 

His eye sockets eased, no longer squinting as he looked up at Nightmare. His grin was lessened, though still apparent, as he stared down the ex-guardian. “ _Anything_. Anything,” Despair insisted hurriedly. “Anything.” 

Nightmare grinned, eye lidding more as it curved upward, pleased. “Who do you belong to?” 

  
  


Despair froze. He remembered back to the shadow Papyrus, and what it was forced to say. Despair shuddered. He felt the need growing, and he so desperately wanted to fulfill it… so if this is what he would have to do, then he would do it. 

Despair gulped. After a shiver, he finally responded, “Nightmare.” 

Nightmare smirked. The fingers cupping his cheeks rubbed slightly as he leaned closer. “And what does that mean?” 

Despair squeezed his eyes shut. It would make it easier to shame himself, easier to say what he needed to. “It m-means… I belong to you and only you…!” He finished quickly. As he sat here, face-forward towards Nightmare—eyes squeezed shut, he quivered in both excitement and apprehensiveness. 

  
  


A content, pleased face crossed Nightmare, yet he was still smirking smugly. “Ahh… That sounds so pretty coming from you, Despair…” He whispered. Nightmare pressed his mouth to where his ear would be if he had one, on the side of his skull, his teeth slightly separating as he whispered, “Say it again. _Louder_.” The request was much greedier, darker, and his voice was deeper as it went lower. 

Despair arched his back. The vibrations from his low voice had him continuing to quiver, blushing furiously out of the embarrassment. “I-I-” he stuttered. His throat closed. He couldn’t speak. 

“ _Say it_. Go ahead, don’t be scared, Despair,” he whispered, his voice even quieter still. 

Despair let out a distressed noise of discomfort. “Please can we just-” 

“Would you rather I end this?” Nightmare asked quietly, pulling his mouth away slightly, letting his teal eye glow dimly. “I can gladly arrange that.” 

Despair shook his head, his face still in Nightmare’s hands. “No, no! Please!” Nightmare begged. The tentacles around him pressed harder and harder on him, Despair panting at the touch. “I belong to you, Nightmare, and only you. I belong to you-!” He said quickly. 

Nightmare grinned, again satisfied. It looked sadistic. It was sadistic pleasure and satisfaction. “There you go,” he cooed, leaning into Despair’s face and kissing him on the mouth gently. “My treat~” he purred into his mouth. 

  
  


Despair at first hesitated, but he allowed his mouth to move with Nightmare’s. He let out a soft moan, feeling the tentacles move across his body still. They were pressing into him even harder than before, rubbing him through his clothes.

Nightmare started moving his lips against Despair’s faster and more forcefully. Despair cowered beneath his touch as his hands moved over his cheeks back and forth, searching for something of Despair’s to latch onto with his hands. When he found nothing, he simply kept repeating the motion with his hands as he let out a low, guttural growl from his throat. Wanting more out of Despair, he had his tongue lick across Despair’s teeth, demanding entrance. 

Despair of course opened up, another soft noise escaping him, but so quiet that it wasn’t identified. After just a brief second of his mouth opening, his tongue slipped in, moving in with his own tongue, rubbing over it. 

Nightmare’s tongue felt bittersweet, toxic, and yet Despair was fine with that. It wasn’t good, but this kiss was maddening to him. He moved closer to Nightmare, allowing the tongue more entrance in his mouth and allowing it more movement. 

  
  


However, just as quickly as the tongue had slipped in, it was out. A string of saliva attaching to their two tongues as a result of the two meeting. 

Nightmare removed one of his hands, rubbing it over his mouth and separating the saliva. “You are desperate, huh?” He teased. 

Despair groaned at the remark, choosing to not respond to it. 

  
  


Instead of saying anything, Nightmare let out a hum. Despair slightly leaned into the hand that was still planted on his face. He groaned in complaint when the hand separated, but he stopped when the hand returned. However, instead of feeling the palm, Nightmare’s knuckles traced the side of his face, caressing him. 

Despair watched through the corner of his eye, biting his lip. The tentacles had lessened the pressure on him, leaving Despair to huff out in annoyance, but that ended quickly when Nightmare drew his knuckles across his face… slowly, gently, carefully. 

“Hrk-” The sound escaped Despair as he squinted his eyes slightly, rolling his eyes up out of the gentle movements of the corruption’s knuckles. 

Just as that happened, he removed the hand, leaving Despair to relax some. He let another huff escape him. 

Still, without saying anything, Nightmare leaned just a bit closer, their chests again touching. The hand that was on his cheek moved to the back of his neck, cupping it, rubbing. 

Despair gulped, lowering his head and pressing it into Nightmare’s chest as he again clutched his shirt. He remained wordless, allowing Nightmare to do what he pleased. Nightmare chuckled at this, but said nothing. The hand that was gone from Despair took one of his hands and placed it on Nightmare’s hip, pressing it into his side. As he did so, he felt the fourth tentacle begin wrapping around his other arm possessively, squeezing and feeling the bones through his clothes. Rubbing back and forth at the tip of his wrist, drawing back over his arm. Despair gasped at the touch, shivering some. 

Nightmare pressed his mouth on Despair’s forehead, which was not pressed against his own chest. “Who do you belong to?” He growled possessively. 

Without batting an eye, Despair answered, “You. I belong to you.” However, it was muffled by the clothes he had planted his face in. 

The tentacle placed on his back trailed up his spine briskly, leaving him, only to reach below Despair’s chin and lift it up. “What, my dear? I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite hear you.”

Despair inhaled shakily, blushing out of the sheer embarrassment of the question and needing to answer it. “I belong to you,” he said, looking at his clothes instead of his face. 

The tendril under his chin rubbed there, making Despair groan. The tentacle pushed Despair’s face up higher, forcing him to look into Nightmare’s gaze. “Who are you?” Nightmare asked, eyelight glowing a dim teal again. 

Despair hesitated momentarily. Shakily, he answered, “… I’m n… I’m nobody, I—I belong to you. No one else but you.” 

Nightmare chuckled darkly, looking down at Despair, his pupil dilating as his grin spread across his face. “That’s right. No one else but _me_. You are _mine_ ,” he snarled possessively, rubbing the back of his neck still, the tentacles around him tightening and squeezing. Despair let out a surprised gasp, close to a moan of pain, uncomfortable from the suddenly tight squeeze.

“Don’t forget that, Despair,” he cooed as he leaned his face into his, the tentacle rubbing frantically on his chin. It curled and flexed, flinching around and gripping to his chin. “ **You belong to me.** ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, Nightmare egged him on.
> 
> Dodgy, but Nightmare is an asshole :,)


	3. Fingertips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen! The same warnings, again.  
> I'm going to stop listing warnings like this, as they are getting quite repetitive, but please mind the tags. I add new tags for every new chapter, if there's any new warnings or anything new to add. 
> 
> There's serious manipulation in this chapter. It also gets (more) sexual toward the end, but it's not explicit, which is why the fic is marked as Mature rather than Explicit. There will be a little star symbol just before it gets sexual, or rather, the part where Nightmare tries to convince Despair by "painting a picture", more than just light implications which will also happen in this chapter. This entire fic is already low-key "spicy", if you will, as-is.  
> This isn't rated Explicit because it's implied but doesn't go into detail, and isn't shown to happen in the fic, (because I didn't mean for this to be an Explicit fic and I didn't want to feature that completely in the fic. It's the plot, but not the focus, if that makes sense).  
> Again, if you don't want to read it, I will mark the scene beforehand with a star symbol, so pay attention to that! Otherwise, we're good to go.
> 
> this took way too long to make- writer's block and all that  
> also, I have school starting up again. :,) means less time to write.

As he picked up the ex-guardian who was on his lap, standing up, Despair clung to his chest. The ex-guardian’s face was buried into his jacket. After that rather possessive maneuver, Despair was appalled—but he knew that Despair would come around again. He had before, and he would again. It was all too easy to make Despair feel how Nightmare wanted him to, good or bad. 

Despair was always at his fingertips. Maybe that wasn’t such an ideal thing for others, but to Nightmare, it was perfect. He liked being in control of things. 

Despair let out a cry of surprise, not expecting the sudden shift from possessiveness to calmly picking him up and moving forward, away from the throne. Based on the emotions he picked up from Despair, it felt like a switch and it confused him. Nightmare chuckled at that. 

  
  


Nightmare rumbled out a purr as he stepped out of the throne room into the hallways. “Don’t be scared, Despair. You’re safe in these arms,” he purred, watching Despair’s grip tighten on his clothes. 

Carefully, Despair peeked out his face from against his chest. His lavender pupils flicked up to Nightmare’s face, analyzing him as it usually did. Though Nightmare couldn’t yet see his mouth, he didn’t need to. The blush from before was still on his face, Nightmare noticed. He smirked with satisfaction. It would be easier to sway Despair again than he thought. 

Nightmare readjusted him slightly. In an attempt to get him more comfortable. He also placed a hand on Despair’s butt to hold him easier. To this, Despair squeaked. His brows were furrowed slightly. The ex-guardian looked back, glancing at the hand now placed on his butt, then his gaze traveled to his knuckles briefly. That was before Nightmare ducked his head down and planted a small kiss on Despair’s forehead as he continued walking, turning a corner. 

Despair whipped his head around, snapping his gaze back to Nightmare’s. He was still blushing. Nightmare’s grin didn’t move as he watched him in his arms. 

After a moment, Despair blinked, his gaze faltering. “Where are we going?” He asked quietly, pulling Nightmare’s clothes closer to him for comfort. 

“Back to your room,” Nightmare answered bluntly. 

Despair nodded, pressing his face into Nightmare’s clothes once more. His grip was still firm and tight around his clothes. Nightmare decided he could fix that. 

  
  


As they walked, Nightmare again summoned a tentacle from his back. He moved it behind Despair, moving it around the back of his head before poking his cheek gently. Nightmare watched. Despair at first didn’t move for a brief moment, but then he pulled his head out of the clothes, revealing one of his sockets to look at what had prodded at his face. 

Before he could react, the tentacle pressed into his cheek again, rubbing against it and curling around the edges of his face. Despair tried to hide it, but against his chest, he could feel Despair shudder as he inhaled briefly. Nightmare smirked, moving the tentacle down to his neck, still on his cheek as it moved down. Despair let out his breath, shaking a little. 

At this point, Nightmare was taking his sweet time walking back to Despair’s room. He had all the time in the world right now. With the entirety of his team elsewhere, that left him with a valid enough excuse to bring Despair out to his throne. This would mean they would be left undisturbed. 

And, to be fair, Nightmare did not want Despair to make any contact with the rest of the team. Too many variables would affect their relationship. He needed this relationship to be in prime condition. 

Nightmare carefully removed the arm he had wrapped around Despair and placed it on his head, moving it back and forth in the slightest, gently and slowly. It was the gentle and soft touches and actions that always had positive results with Despair. Just at his touch, Despair leaned into it, his once-tense body loosening as he blushed more. It was a nice change to see Despair go from tense to soft in a matter of seconds, or even the opposite effect. 

“Mmm-” Despair mused, tilting his head some. His collar hadn’t been put back on yet, but Nightmare had it in his pocket. He would put it back on later. For now, he might as well let the tentacle apply pressure on the side of his neck. 

Despair let out a quiet moan, leaning more into the hand patting his head. 

“Very good boy,” he remarked quietly. 

  
  


Despair peaked open his sockets, eyelights wavering. “Please…” he murmured. 

“What do you want? Be more specific.” 

Despair quickly buried his face into Nightmare’s clothes again, clutching them ever-so-tightly, as they had gone slack before. “Mmmm,” he uttered, muffled by the clothes. He was acting flustered, Nightmare could see. 

“Very well, then.” Nightmare had the tentacle continue rubbing his neck, quickly going over the bruise on his neck. Despair shuddered at the brief touch of his bruise. Just as quickly as the tendril had gone over the bruise, it found his spot between the neck and spine and rubbed, adding pressure into it. 

Right as he had, Despair threw his head back, crying out in pleasure. Nightmare let out a laugh that rumbled in his chest, making Despair shiver. Despair looked away as the tentacle had temporarily frozen. The tendril moved, prodded at it, this time carefully. Nightmare shuddered, again squeezing his sockets and letting out low pants and other noises of his satisfaction. 

Despair looked back up at Nightmare, opening his eyes, pleading, “Pleeease… It feels so good, Night-” 

Again, Nightmare replied, “Please what?” 

Despair huffed out in annoyance, lowering his head. “Keep rubbing. Please…” 

Nightmare chuckled. “Oh, of course.” He smirked. “I have you teetering on the edge, don’t I? And right when you think you’re feeling good, I rip that blanket out from under you. Yet you come crawling back, don’t you?” He leaned a little closer to Despair. “You can’t help it, can you?” 

Despair shuddered. The grip on his clothes again tight. He shook his head in response, not able to form words as the tentacle moved around on his neck and pressed into the top of his spine. He was stuttering, fumbling over noises and sounds in an attempt to speak up, to respond. 

“No, I didn’t think so,” Nightmare cooed. “You’re needy, very very needy.” 

With that, Despair let out a huff, looking down. 

Nightmare lifted up his face with the hand on his head, his fingers curling around his chin. After that, he lowered his head and kissed Despair gently. 

Despair immediately kissed Nightmare back, pushing himself into Nightmare some. The corner of Nightmare’s lips curled from the satisfaction of having Despair at his fingertips again. He kept moving his nonexistent lips, following Despair, moving his own against his. 

  
  


Despair hadn’t even realized it, but he had already opened the large door for the section of Despair’s castle and moved on. He was close to the bedroom, now. By then, he removed his lips from Despair’s. Despair was left satisfied for once, smiling gently with a soft expression on his face. His brows were furrowed, though, still signaling the true nature of his thoughts. 

Nightmare let out a rumble from his chest, refraining from sudden laughter. It was just… funny to him, seeing someone curling their fingers around him desperately and craving more attention. Begging for it, too. Like Nightmare couldn’t possibly know he wanted more out of him. He was glad to give him more, anyways. 

“You love the attention I give you?” Nightmare asked, humming. 

Despair nodded, quick to respond. “Yes!” He chirped excitedly. Nightmare could feel that Despair was hoping Nightmare was meaning something by asking that. 

  
  


Nightmare smirked. “I’ll give you more, don’t worry,” he replied. He stopped walking now, as they reached Despair’s bedroom. “We’re back at your room now.” 

Despair blinked, turning his head to face his bedroom. “Oh,” he murmured. He realized Nightmare was right. The door was something he would recognize from being in that room for so long all the time. 

Despair likely had no idea how long he’s been in this castle, due to the way he acts, how oblivious he has made himself over the years, but he has been here for at least a decade. That’s enough to change a person, even if it’s a gradual change from brattiness to submission. Something Despair went through. 

Nightmare’s smirk didn’t falter at that thought. 

Nightmare let out an exhale as he let his free hand reach to the door handle and open the bedroom door. He stepped inside, Despair still in his arms. Despair’s grip was loose right now, as he had eased once again. 

“Alright, let go of me,” Nightmare ordered. 

Despair must have been staring off, but at the sound of Nightmare’s command, his eyes fluttered and his gaze shifted back to Nightmare. After just a brief moment, what Nightmare said was registered. He shook his head, responding, “Oh-” With that, he let go of Nightmare’s clothes sheepishly. 

Nightmare said nothing, just lowering before setting Despair down. He stood up, straightening his standing position as he rested his hands into his jacket pockets, watching Despair. 

Nervously, he could feel his eye on him. He turned around stiffly, cowering now as he made himself appear smaller as he looked up at who he supposedly belonged to. 

Again, satisfied with the change of reaction from Despair, he came down onto one of his knees and set a hand on his head, just above the crown on his head. He pat him gently. “Are you alright?” He asked. It wasn’t a question of his wellbeing, however—he just wanted to know what was going on inside his head, as he could read emotions, but not quite thoughts. Through his emotions, he could feel him radiate a new nervousness, an anxiety he hasn’t felt from him before. It somewhat concerned Nightmare, but he figured he could get around what was to come… if it had meant anything. 

Usually, new emotions such as this one, ones that are strong and haven’t quite been experienced before to his knowledge, meant something was about to change. It happened before, it will happen again. Even before the incident, new experienced emotions are what changed him. This just meant that Nightmare would have to keep a close eye on him. 

Despair was one to follow his emotions rather than his brain on impulse. That was both a good and bad thing. To manipulate him, all he had to do was get through to his emotions to reach his thoughts. Get into his head, reach his emotions, and you were the one to pull the strings. It was all a matter of mind games. It was always mind games, with Nightmare. 

Despair inhaled a breath shakily at the patting. He was indeed nervous about something. Nightmare could feel his emotions, Negativity spawning around them. “You don’t feel alright,” Nightmare added, drawing his hand back, his eye still trained on the purple clothed Despair in front of him. “What’s on your mind?” He asked, tilting his head at the slightest. 

Despair finally responded. His eyelights flicked around as he answered, “I-I… I’m remembering things I don’t want to, Night.” 

Ah, that would explain it. 

Nightmare let out a hum and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Despair as his tentacles retracted. He pressed him into his chest. Despair let out a surprised squeak. Nightmare chuckled at that, resting his head on the smaller ex-guardian’s shoulders. “Oh, you don’t have to think about those things if you don’t want to,” he said. “You don’t have to think about anything you don’t want to. Those are just memories, it’s in the past.” 

Despair nodded stiffly. Something told Nightmare he wasn’t buying it, due to the emotions not faltering, ever-growing. 

Nightmare let a hand that was on his back come to his head and stroke it. “No, no, stop thinking those thoughts. They’re hurting you, aren’t they?” 

Despair nodded. This time his tense body went slack as he hung his head. 

Nightmare pulled him out of the hug, holding his upper arms and looking directly at his face. “Do you want help with forgetting?” He suggested, eyebrow perked. 

Despair looked at Nightmare for a moment. Small tears were pricked in his sockets, giving a certain shine to his eyes. However, he pulled his head away. “I don’t know,” he replied briefly. He was tense again. The emotions lessened, but they were still there. Part of Despair didn’t want help, he could tell. But Nightmare knew if he left him to his own devices, that might not end so well. 

“Of course you do. You don’t want to remember those things, right?” He asked. He paused. “Or… would you rather remember things that only hurt you and don’t do you any good? Painful things that won’t help you, hm?” He questioned, standing up, letting go of Despair as he turned away. Without looking back as he reached for the handle, he said, “Well, have fun with that, then. I’ll just get going. You obviously don’t want my help. I’ll just leave you alone, since that’s what you want.” With that, he opened the door. He moved forward a step, right as he felt something cling onto his jacket. He stopped. 

Nightmare looked back to see Despair, tense, holding the edge of his jacket. When Nightmare looked back, Despair winced, taking his hand back and holding his wrist, stepping back and looking up at Nightmare, a scared look across his face. One that he hadn’t seen from him in a while. 

Oh, sweet mercy, that Negativity was addicting. It was so great and powerful. It made him _feel_ powerful just in Despair’s presence. 

Too bad it was only temporary. He had to ensure that Despair would stay here. He had no choice, otherwise, he would probably end up torturing Despair on the spot, just to feel more of that addicting emotion. Torturing him by squeezing his appendages with his oozing tendrils, tugging and pulling on them as he set a foot on his chest to keep him still, ripping him to bits until his screams echoed across the castle, his bones and joints cracked and leaking with blood as he sobbed and cried. As Nightmare briefly imagined this, his eye dilated and his grin widened sinisterly. He shook his head, his pupil and expression returning to normal as quickly as they came. He couldn’t entertain fantasies like that right now. He had a job to do. 

Nightmare let out a huff, turning fully to face Despair. He squatted down. Despair watched him, flinching, still holding himself. He was still tense. That was fine. Nightmare would fix that, just like he fixed everything. 

Just like he fixed Despair. 

Slowly, Nightmare lifted his hand and moved it towards Despair, holding his fingers out without yet touching his face. It was an offer to cup the side of his face. Despair flinched at the move, watching his hand, tears in his sockets. His gaze traveled from Nightmare’s hand to his face, brows furrowed with a wary expression as he looked at who he was claimed by. If the collar and the bruise didn’t suggest who Despair was to Nightmare, then Nightmare didn’t know what would. 

After inhaling sharply, Despair squeezed his eye sockets and stiffened, lowering his head in the slightest. Nightmare took it for submission, letting his hand gently cup his cheek. He leaned in just a bit closer from where he was squatted. “I’m not going to hurt you,” Nightmare stated, thinking to himself, _just as long as you behave_. He was sure Despair would be smart enough to know this himself. Despair let out a whimper, cowering even more than what he had before, making himself even smaller, holding himself. Nightmare hummed. “Tsk, tsk, tsk… Don’t worry, those memories are in the past. This is now. I’m willing to help you forget about them to feel better,” Nightmare suggested. He let his thumb rub Despair’s cheek gently. 

Despair whimpered again, quieter this time, as his face scrunched more. Nightmare scowled for a second, before rolling his teal eye and leaning in closer to Despair, kissing him on the cheek. “Shh… Don’t worry anymore,” he murmured. 

Opening his eyes, Despair’s eyelights flicking up to Nightmare again, who was holding a gentle, calm expression. His thumb moved on his cheek again as he purred, “See? I’m not so bad as long as you obey.” 

Despair flinched, glancing to the floor as he quivered. “Please don’t hurt me… I’m sorry for thinking these things,” he begged, beginning to cry. “Please, please don’t hurt me anymore!” Despair squeezed his sockets shut once again, lavender tears spilling from his sockets. 

Patiently, Nightmare waited a brief moment, before pushing Despair to his chest in a hug. “Shhh. Don’t worry, Despair, you’re okay. I’m not going to hurt you. Those are just thoughts. As long as they stay thoughts, nothing bad will happen, hmm?” Nightmare repeated. It was getting repetitive, but sometimes that’s what it took to get through to someone. Repetition. Nightmare exhaled as he let two fingers go over Despair’s skull, petting him lightly. “Shhh…” He coaxed. 

Nightmare could feel Despair hug him back, clenching his fists around his clothes, a quick flash of anger appearing in the midst of his emotions… Just as quickly as it came, it died out, his grip loosening. 

  
  


After a moment of some crying, Despair cleaned the tears off of his face with Nightmare’s clothes. His grip tightened around Nightmare in this hug. Nightmare was still petting him as Despair looked up at his corruption and said, “Please, help me forget, I don’t want to remember.” 

Nightmare could feel Despair was fine at the moment, albeit a little shaken. He would start remembering those repressed thoughts and memories if he didn’t pay attention to him soon. So Nightmare had no choice but to comply. 

Nightmare smirked slightly as he suggested, “Some fun in bed, maybe?” 

Despair blinked, taken by surprise. 

Nightmare kept going. The goopy corruption let go of Despair in the hug, planting his right hand on his shoulder, taking the other hand that was petting his skull and traced Despair’s chin slowly, his teal eye boring into his lavender eyelights. “It would not only help you… but you would feel good, hm? Like before.” Nightmare lidded his eye lazily. “Make you appreciate me.” 

Despair clung to Nightmare, hiding his face from him, resting the top of his head against Nightmare’s chest. This only made him look childish in Nightmare’s opinion, but whatever worked for Despair. 

  
  


Nightmare knew after these memories, ones about _him_ , Despair would need… convincing. A reminder, really. Nothing he hasn’t already done before. 

He said nothing as he summoned a tendril, lightly tapping his back with it, running over it gently. Despair held still, but Nightmare knew he could feel it, as the tentacle moved the clothes around slightly as it went. The hand on his chin moved to his other shoulder, gripping it. “Remember how that feels?” Nightmare whispered. He moved his mouth close to Despair’s skull as he added, “How it feels to be _loved_? Cared for? Taken care of?” Nightmare grinned at that, the tentacle applying more pressure, briefly gliding over Despair’s spine. “Come on. You feel it. Don’t ignore me. It won’t help you forget. It won’t solve any of your problems, little Despair…” he coaxed. 

* * *

At the first movement of the tentacle moving over his back, Despair held still, tensing. As Nightmare spoke, he felt frozen, he felt like he was choking on words as he opened his mouth to ~~protest~~ speak. He didn’t know what the words were exactly, but they were something, protesting to be let out of his mouth—or possibly protesting against Nightmare. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t let out a single word even if he wanted to. 

Despair could feel Nightmare’s aura pressure him. Those words trying to convince him. _They were working_. Despite remembering how humiliating before was on the throne, remembering how Nightmare had treated him, he felt as though he was weakening, that he was becoming more _submissive_. Just like Nightmare wanted. 

He could feel that in place of the concern and the wariness, the sadness and the anger and the fear of what the memories reminded him of, pleasure moved in, hogging up all the space. He couldn’t help it. ~~He never could help it~~. Nightmare’s mouth, tantalizingly close—the tendril moving over his back, yet still not making a move… Nightmare’s hands placed on his shoulders, feeling Nightmare’s fingers dig in through his clothes as he gripped Despair, it all took a toll. At first, these things were alarming him, but instead, it was becoming _pleasurable_. 

Softly, Despair let out a noise, soft and timid, restrained. He didn’t want to make that noise. He didn’t want to do this. He wanted _comfort_ , not convincing. “I don’t want this,” he whined, looking up at Nightmare. “I want help. Please,” he pleaded, clutching his clothes tightly, the despair surrounding him and joining Nightmare’s pressing aura that intoxicated him. He leaned just an inch closer. “Please.” Despair started feeling a pain with how tight his hands were clenched around his master’s clothes. ~~**_He never wanted to belong to this horrid monster_**~~ ** _._ **

Nightmare laughed. Despair’s brows furrowed as he loosened, looking up at the corruption disbelievingly, shocked, like he just told him the world was going to end tomorrow. Despair was offended. This was a genuine request, not some joke. _He_ was not a joke. This was serious, and his “master” was just laughing it off, as if it did not concern him somehow. 

The laughter ended soon enough. Nightmare let go of his right shoulder and cupped his cheek, rubbing his hand over the side of his skull as he purred, “Oh, how would you know what you want? You’re emotional, and you’ve a virgin. You don’t know what you want.” Nightmare smirked, curling his lips as he let his tongue lick over his lips, looking over Despair. His eye was still half-lidded in his laziness, uncaring for Despair’s health. 

His corruption only cared about Despair when there was something to be gained out of it. 

At the thought, Despair lowered his head slightly, staring at the floor rather than looking at Nightmare. The heat inside of him demanding his attention, his _master’s_ attention, begging for it practically. Despair wouldn’t let it out. He couldn’t. He _knew_ what he looked like when he was thirsting for what Nightmare could give him. Despair was just weak, wasn’t he? 

Despite wanting to quell the urge, trying to deny it, he felt the tendril move from the bottom of his spine to his neck. He felt the heat rise and he shivered, accidentally straightening his position and tilting up his head as he grimaced, only for his expression to contort to pleasure as it eased. 

“There you go,” Nightmare cooed, the hand on his cheek grabbing his chin, Nightmare’s left hand moving to the back of his skull and petting it again like before. Despair cringed at that, glaring at him, before the tendril slipped under the cuffs over his neck and rubbed close to his sensitive spot, forcing Despair to let out a huffy moan, cut off as he bit his nonexistent lips, trying to force himself from making noise as he squeezed his eyes shut and furrowed his brows. He opened an eye partially, still trying to glare at Nightmare, trying to visually protest against him. If he wouldn’t listen to his words, he would instead try to make him “read” his emotions instead of his forbidden bodily desires, attempting to make it clear to him that now was not the time, if there would ever be a time at this rate. 

“No,” Despair spat out, clenching his jaw and tearing away his head from out of his grasp. Nightmare froze, glaring down at Despair, teal eye glowing. Despair ignored the warning. He didn’t care. Despair softened by habit. He still had hope that maybe… things could be better. “Please,” he pleaded, “Please, just listen to me. Not right now… I… I want things to be better, right now, not ignoring these problems…” He could feel that the feelings from earlier had slightly faded. That was a success in his book. 

Nightmare stared him down for a moment, but soon he faltered, the glow dimming to hardly anything again. His hands, which were once frozen, hovering over Despair, rested again. Right hand on his shoulder close to his neck, the left on another shoulder. He was at ease, not gripping Despair at all, retracting the tentacle. Despair hopefully looked up at Nightmare. Was he listening? 

Nightmare’s teal eyelight flicked elsewhere in thought, his grin dipping down to nothing. He was frowning slightly, teeth still showing. After a moment of pondering what Despair pleaded, his gaze landed to Despair’s precisely as he asked quietly, “… Who said this wouldn’t make things better?” 

Just like that, the hope diminished once again. ~~Their first meet went similarly~~. 

The ex-guardian’s hopeful expression faltered, his brows furrowing again, his face returning to something neutral, other than his crinkling eye sockets, the pained look in his eyes along with the furrowed eyebrows. 

Nightmare moved just a bit closer to Despair. “You still haven’t given it a shot.” 

Despair looked away, reaching for Nightmare’s wrists and pulling his hands off of him before tearing away, turning towards the window and running towards it. He stopped when he reached it, frustration filling him. 

  
  


He had to stay here against his will, he had to deal with Nightmare’s pressuring aura, he had to live in a bedroom his entire life—sheltered, but never able to reach out to something more. _And his corruption had the GALL to tell him he wasn’t willing to give this a chance?_ All he cared about was games! Games that Despair wasn’t interested in being the puppet in any longer. 

  
  


Despair half-expected tendrils curling around his body, throwing him against the wall, but he didn’t feel them for a solid amount of time. He didn’t know how much time had passed, his thoughts racing through his skull, but it couldn’t have been too long. Still, the fact Nightmare hadn’t physically reacted to his rejection was astounding. 

Hesitantly, Despair loosened, turning his head slightly. Carefully, he looked back, biting his lip nervously. Nightmare wasn’t there. He blinked, mildly confused, lowering a brow as he turned away from the window and took a step forward. Right as he had, he felt the familiar feeling of a tentacle moving over his mouth, two more coiling around his arms, holding him at his elbows and curling around his arms down to his wrists, not budging, not moving a muscle. As that had happened, he felt the body they belonged to press against his back as he felt two hands plant on his shoulders, holding Despair successfully in place. Despair physically tried to gasp in response, but he was muffled by the tendril over his mouth, forced to hold still as he thoughtlessly looked up. His lavender eyelights narrowing slightly. 

☆

A shiver ran down his spine as he felt the warm breath from his master against his neck. 

“Instead of thinking about pitiful, self-proclaimed obligations, imagine how it might feel. If you think stroking you and touching you is pleasurable… imagine how good it would really feel if you fully committed,” he suggested, voice low, making Despair shiver. 

Despair shook his head, but the tentacle’s grips did not loosen, still holding him still. 

_No. Don’t think about it._

Regardless of this thought, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander. He pictured intimate moments shared with his master, blushing out of the sheer embarrassment over the fact he couldn’t control his mind, pushing the thoughts away as best as he could. He didn’t need this right now. 

On his neck, he felt a thumb lightly trace over the bruise on his neck, ever-so-slightly, as light as a feather. Despair glared at the hand that was now hovering over his neck. Nightmare quietly chuckled. It was the quietest he heard him laugh. It was unnerving, but Despair remained firm, his gaze moving to as far behind him as he could look, a brow lowered. Nightmare’s head must have moved away from him, because now he wasn’t feeling his breath heavily over his neck. 

  
  


Nothing was said for a few moments. The only thing that happened was the tentacles over his body began to move slightly over the parts where he was being held. The tentacle over his mouth prodding at the corners of his mouth gently. Despair watched, trying not to think about how he felt about them, trying to push down anything distracting him from his goal. 

  
  


“Why are you fighting it?” Nightmare asked. His voice broke the silence. The tentacles loosened slightly after he spoke. 

Despair grunted. Nightmare must have remembered his mouth was covered, because soon the tendril over his mouth retracted, though remaining on his cheek, it allowed him to speak. Once his mouth was free, he wiggled his mouth some briefly. He half-glanced at Nightmare as best as he could as he answered, “Because I don’t want to ignore my problems. My problems with _you_.” 

Nightmare hummed in response, sounding amused. “Oh, I see. I thought so.” He paused. “So, it’s not that you don’t want to, but rather, you don’t want to have sex during this moment,” Nightmare concluded. 

Without batting an eye, Despair retorted, “I’ve already said that.” Before he could say anything else, the tendril on his cheek shot over his mouth again. The tentacles elsewhere on his body squeezed slightly, applying the same pressure again like before as Nightmare put his mouth against the side of his skull, close to the back. 

“Why not right now?” Nightmare whispered. “Just you and me,” he purred. “I could hold your hips as you’re held against the wall, greeting your dripping wet entrance with a gift of my own as you beg for it,” he suggested. 

The picture Nightmare was painting immediately formed in Despair’s mind. His lavender blush painted his face as his eyes widened. He could feel desire form in his groins as he gulped. Despair’s throat closed again, he didn’t protest, and part of him didn’t want to. Maybe Nightmare was right. 

Against his skull, Nightmare grinned. He could feel he was starting to get through to Despair. “It would feel great, especially for you. Taken care of, filling you up, satisfying you… Finally being full, with something other than food. A part of me, a gift to you, inside of you…” he suggested, shifting closer to Despair against his back. 

Despair was silent. He remained silent. He couldn’t speak. 

  
  


Nightmare shifted slightly, moving the arms on his shoulders to his arms, close to the tendrils already encasing his arms. “Wouldn’t that be romantic?” He murmured. 

  
  


Despair didn’t know how to respond. He stood there, pressed to Nightmare, listening. 

The corruption let out a hum. “So. Do you want to?” He asked finally. 

  
  


Despair let it sink in for a moment, his eyelights flicking elsewhere. After a moment, the tentacles over his body released him, returning back to the corruption. The ex-guardian glanced back to see his master leaning against the wall next to the window. He was watching Despair, reading his emotions most likely, a perked eyebrow as his eye was lidded. 

The ex-guardian glanced away. He wasn’t sure. It felt nice, but was it worth it in the end? Possibly putting himself into a deeper hole with his corruption? It certainly wouldn’t help. 

“It’s completely your choice,” Nightmare murmured, letting his voice rumble as it was quiet, lowering his brow as he watched Despair, smirking. 

Despair again looked back. Nightmare’s dim light glowing in the dark room as he watched Despair intensely, never tearing away his gaze. 

He gulped. 

_How much trouble will this get me into later? None,_ Despair thought to himself. _This won’t change anything._

Despair focused on Nightmare again. 

It almost seemed like Nightmare already knew the answer. Right as he looked up to him again, his corruption’s smirk widened knowingly. 

“Okay.” He consented.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wanna get kool-laid?


	4. Dead End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite everything, he chooses to run again.

Despair started waking up, slowly but surely. At first, his thoughts were calm and nothing serious. He thought about the color teal, still half-asleep as his eyes blearily opened in a squint as he stared at the wall just in front of his face. If the color teal wasn’t enough to remind him, he felt somebody shift behind him on the bed, moving closer to him, moving a leg over him. Despair jolts awake, aware of his surroundings again. 

His master, Nightmare, was spooning him in bed, one of his legs curled over Despair’s. Suddenly, memories of what happened last night crashed through his skull. He blushed furiously as he let his only free hand slap over his mouth. His other arm was against his body, one of Nightmare’s arms over his chest and pressing his “pet” closer to him as he remained asleep. 

Despair let out a huffy breath, inhaling shakily. He shifted his legs slightly and regretted it. He felt sore. Last night had not been kind to him. He flinched slightly. Despair half-glanced back, checking to see if Nightmare was still asleep. His corruption’s face was pressed into the back of his neck, so he couldn’t see if his eye was shut or not, but he wasn’t moving or saying anything, so it was safe to assume he was asleep. He hadn’t moved, either. 

The mere thought of Nightmare’s face reminded him of what had occurred. 

  
  


He was ashamed of himself. 

He had, yet again, fallen victim to more of his traps. 

  
  


He tore his gaze away, facing the wall again as his face scrunched. If only Dream was here, he would know what to do. Dream would tell him what to do. Dream would try to help him. 

If he hadn’t taken him for granted. 

  
  


Despair shook his head slightly. He felt prickles in his eye sockets, tears threatening to summon, but he didn’t need that right now. He needed to get out of here. He needed to escape. Even if he failed, again, you couldn’t say he didn’t try. Despair needed to at least _try_ to get out of this. He couldn’t take it anymore—being this puppet, a shell of who he once was. Always becoming submissive to his “master.”

As he thought about this, he subconsciously moved his free hand to the bell on his collar. He cupped it, rubbing his thumb over the holes. Despair realized he was doing this, blinking, glancing down at the collar. He bit his lip. More memories. 

  
  


_“You look so good right now… You’re like this just for me. No one else but_ me _. You belong to me and you know it.”_

 _“But… you would look so much better with your collar on, wouldn’t you?”_

_His deep voice, close to him, chuckling darkly as he pulled out the collar from his jacket pocket and clipping it on his neck._

_All Despair could do was desperately beg for Nightmare. His master._ _Wanting him so badly._

_“There we go. So much better.” He smirked with satisfaction. Amusement. Sickening amusement._

_“You belong to me.”_

_“Now beg for me.”_

  
  


As the memory came to mind, he felt sick. How could he have been so blind?? That’s right, he was again manipulated, and he _let himself_ get carried away. _Again_. Was this really all Despair could do? Is give up? 

Despair ignored this thought, shaking it off, coming back to reality. Again, he was reminded Nightmare was close to him when he felt his corruption huff on his neck. Despair shivered slightly, half-glaring at Nightmare in disgust. He was disgusted at himself, angry that Nightmare had yet again egged him on. _He had fallen for it,_ **_again._ **

“I need out of here…” He mumbled, not realizing he said it. Lightly, he touched Nightmare’s arm, watching him closely for movement or reaction. Would he notice if he moved his arm? What about his leg?? He wouldn’t mind if he moved his limbs off of him, if he did wake up, just blame it on him moving around in his sleep. Actually, it might be a better idea to move his leg first, just in case he does wake up. Something like his leg, a limb Nightmare wouldn’t immediately see him moving if he did wake up. With this in mind, Despair exhaled, carefully weaving himself out of his leg, pushing it gently back to Nightmare. He held still, waiting to see if Nightmare would react. He didn’t see any movement from the corner of his socket, or as well as he could see Nightmare. Despair again exhaled after holding his breath, not realizing he had. He reached for Nightmare’s arm with his free hand. Suddenly, he was being picked up by Nightmare. He squeaked loudly, thinking he was awake, but he was just moved over him. He was laying against the bed again, this time away from the wall, close to the edge, though still in Nightmare’s arms. There was an additional arm on him, now, but that arm went limp and moved away again and got comfortable. The arm still around him was loose. This would make things easier, actually, Despair realized. 

_That’s good._

Despair stuck out his tongue, reaching for his arm, grabbing it close to the corruption’s wrist, over his jacket. His gaze flicked to the window as he worked on carefully moving Nightmare’s arm, looking away immediately—he didn’t need a reminder. 

He hadn’t moved Nightmare’s arm much when suddenly the corruption held tight to his clothes. Despair held in a gasp. 

Nightmare’s mouth pressed to the underside of his skull, whispering slowly, “ **I’ll give you two minutes to start running.** ” Despair shuddered, his eyes widening, eyelights shrinking from the ominous statement—but one he understood nonetheless, he got the message. With that, Nightmare let go, scooting away from Despair. “Go on. Run to your heart’s content.” He started laughing quietly, chuckling to himself. 

Despair didn’t bother looking back. He already knew Nightmare was watching him. He was _amused_. 

This would be two minutes to get as far away as possible. A lot can happen in just a few seconds, what if someone busted into the castle and found him? Took him out of here?

Wishful thinking. 

  
  


Despair threw himself out of bed, tumbling for the door, the bell on his collar annoyingly ringing loudly. He tripped but caught himself with the door as he held onto the handle. He jiggled the handle. It was unlocked. The door opened. He ran out of the room, knowing to go right, frantically throwing himself and racing down the hallway, not even bothering to close the door behind him. As he ran, the bell on his collar bobbed up and down, ringing, announcing his presence. He lifted his hand automatically to silence it, but he refrained, wincing, remembering why he couldn’t. 

  
  
  


_Despair’s breath was fast. He felt incredibly sad, unfortunate, and overall pathetic. Forced to submit to Nightmare or suffer the consequences, was basically how Nightmare had described their situation. “Behave,” and you get praise. Step out of line or break his conditions, or try to escape, and consequences will ensue._

_As his self-proclaimed “master” explained to him in his new room, telling him he hadn’t been obedient as of lately even after settling in, he would take extra… “precautions” to ensure Despair would behave. Submit. Yield._

_This had angered Despair, upset him. He couldn’t take any more of this. He knew he wouldn’t be able to from the very start. That’s why he ran out as soon as Nightmare had turned his back on him for a millisecond. He was surprised he was let out…_

_Why didn’t he hear Despair and react accordingly? Despair knew what he did when people turned their backs on him and ran._

_He shuddered at the thought._

_The bell around his neck was ringing. That’s how Nightmare was following him. Nightmare could hear him, Despair knew for sure, the bell was so loud—that’s why Nightmare made him wear it. He didn’t have time to take it off, so he cupped his hand around the bell, silencing it. He kept running down the hall, taking turns, looking around as he tried to determine where to go but never finding a way out. It seemed like he was trapped in an endless cycle._

  
  


_Suddenly, he felt the Negativity around him skyrocket. Before he could react, Nightmare came from around the corner, forcing Despair to run into his chest, falling backward and landing on his butt. He winced. Even with the wind knocked out of him, he tried to scoot back, away from Nightmare, trying to stand up. Before he could, Nightmare planted his foot into his chest and pushed him down to the floor. Despair grunted out of pain, grimacing._

_His expression faltered when Nightmare leaned, towering over Despair, his face over his own. His sockets widened as he looked up at his teal gaze. The corruption’s eyelight glowing ominously, brightly, just as it had when it had first warned him._

_Nightmare grinned, his brow furrowing as he stared at Despair. “You silenced the bell,” he stated._

_“How did you—”_

_Nightmare quickly put a hand over his mouth, squeezing his cheeks tightly. Despair flinched but couldn’t move out of his grasp. Nightmare forced Despair’s head closer to him in his grasp, squeezing his face even tighter. Despair could feel possible marks were going to form, but that was the least of his concerns. He focused on Nightmare’s glowing teal eyelight, filled with fear. Finally, Nightmare hissed, “Do you think I’m fucking stupid? Think I can’t hear that bell go silent as I chase you around the castle?” He let out a short laugh mockingly, squeezing just a bit tighter on Despair’s face. “Hah. Very funny.”_

_Despair let out a whimper, squeezing his sockets shut. He couldn’t help but lift his hands to Nightmare’s wrist, holding back from trying to remove the corruption’s hand from his face. He was shaking now, shaking uncontrollably._

_Nightmare watched him for a moment, the light dimming slightly as his eye lidded. His gaze traveled from his hands back to his face. He tilted his head as he purred mockingly, “Oh… Does that hurt?” His grip loosened, letting go of his face, letting Despair’s head fall back._

_Despair flinched. He didn’t respond. How could he properly respond without getting punished?_

_Two tentacles curled around his wrists slowly, carefully. Despair watched, his eyelights flicking back to Nightmare, a look of confusion on his face._

_Nightmare watched him, the glow returning in his eye. His eye lidded a little more, his grin wide as Despair felt a sudden sharp pain in his wrists. He heard a snap, and immediately made the connection. The tentacles squeezed tightly around the wrist, crushing his bones, forcing Despair to let out a scream as he tried to pull his arms out of the tendrils’ grasps instinctively, but the tentacles only tugged his arms back, Nightmare beginning to laugh. Despair’s screams joined with his amused laughter, both echoing across the hallways. Despair immediately started sobbing and babbling as best he could as he wheezed and cried, likely begging for it to stop, for Nightmare to stop crushing his bones. He tried to open his eyes to see his wrists, but the tears were clouding his vision. It was probably better he didn’t see them._

_Just after the tentacles squeezed ever-so-tightly, Despair thinking his hands would pop off from the pressure, he felt the tentacles let go of his wrists, replaced with Nightmare’s hands. Nightmare pulled him up, forcing him to sit on his legs, sobbing, feeling the throbbing in his wrists, feeling extreme pain from the crushed bones. Nightmare had at one point stopped laughing and removed the foot on his chest, but Despair couldn’t recall at what points—he was too focused on the pain he was experiencing._

_Nightmare lowered onto his legs in front of Despair, holding his wrists. Despair kept his sockets shut, sobbing and wheezing as he choked on words he could no longer let out._

_“Shhh…” Nightmare hushed, a goopy tendril sweeping over his face to clear them of the tears. As quickly as they were wiped away, new tears poured in. Despair opened his eye sockets, squinting, looking at Nightmare, his head lowered. Nightmare was smirking. He rubbed his thumbs over his wrists, causing slight pain for Despair, causing him to wince._

_“St-Stop…” he begged quietly. “Pl—P-Please… Stop…!”_

_Nightmare snickered at that, Despair barely hearing it. Nightmare said nothing as he moved his head beside Despair’s, not touching him, only holding his wrists. His grip tightened slightly. Despair flinched from that, biting his lip, refraining from any more begs or pleads for forgiveness—for mercy. He would be lucky if he had that._

_“Promise you won’t_ **ever** _silence your bell again,” Nightmare demanded._

_Despair cried louder at that, shivering, making himself smaller as he curled into himself some._

_“I’ll heal your wrists if you do,” Nightmare promised._

_That was when Despair frantically tried to form words, trying to stop crying, but his wheezes and hiccups made speaking incredibly difficult. He was lucky if he said half a word, let alone an entire phrase._

_“Calm down, so you can speak. Breathe,” Nightmare muttered. His voice was louder as he continued, “If I heal your wrists, and you’ve made a_ **_promise_ **_to me_ not _to ever silence or quiet your bell in any way. That means you_ owe _me something in return if you do break that promise. But you don’t have anything, other than yourself, do you?” Despair was trying to calm himself down as Nightmare spoke. He was getting there. His wheezes had stopped, but he was still hiccuping some, and tears were still rolling down his cheeks. After pausing, Nightmare hissed, “That means, if you break your promise, I’ll have to guarantee that you can never break that promise again. I won’t just break your wrists._ **_I’ll chop them off._ ** _That way, you can never silence your bell_ **_ever_ ** _again.” Nightmare grinned sadistically as he heard Despair freeze, starting to cry, but desperately trying to calm himself down at the same time. “Go on,” Nightmare cooed, “say the words.” He smirked. “‘I promise, Nightmare, my master, that I will never silence or quiet the bell on my collar ever again.’ Say it.”_

_Not only was he trying to get Despair to humiliate himself, trick himself for later, he was ALSO trying to get Despair to call him his master with his own tongue. It was sickening. Truly sickening._

_Despair curled his lips, hiccuping, but he knew what he had to do. He couldn’t work with broken wrists. Desperately, he repeated, “‘I promise, Nightmare, m-my master, that I will never s-s-silence or quiet the bell on my collar ever again.” He said it briefly to get it over with, but regardless, Nightmare accepted it and didn’t ask for more._

_There was a tingling sensation over his wrists, and suddenly a wave of relief. Nightmare healed his wrists. Despair wasn’t sure how, since he was quite certain Nightmare did not have any healing abilities, but he managed, and frankly, Despair didn’t care._

_With that, Nightmare pulled Despair in a hug. Despair flinched, freezing up, tense. “There you go… That wasn’t so hard, now was it, little Despair?” He cooed, trailing a finger over his skull lightly. Despair shuddered. “Remember, now. Don’t break that promise of yours…”_

  
  
  
  


The memory made him feel more negative about this situation. He tried to shake it off. He couldn’t afford to let Nightmare have more reason to get closer. 

The ex-guardian had no idea where he was going. He frantically looked from place to place. He was surprised Nightmare wasn’t on his tail. Or he was, and Despair couldn’t see him—but he could feel his presence, close, and getting closer. He had to hurry. Run as far as he can. Try to find an escape or someone that might be willing to help. ~~Someone like Dream~~. 

He shook his head and kept running. His panicked gaze flicking to the walls around him. These paintings seemed familiar, but he wasn’t sure. Despair didn’t have time to focus on the paintings or the decorations. Panting, the ex-guardian skidded to a stop at a fork in the road. Three paths. Was this here before? He didn’t remember this being here… Despair shook his head. This had to be the way, he was sure Nightmare had gone this way when he was leading him out. 

Leading him to the throne room. 

Despair shook those memories off once more. He didn’t need more memories of his humiliation. 

Come on, he told himself. There couldn’t be much time left before Nightmare started following him, if he wasn’t already. Who knows if Nightmare just said that to give Despair false hope. Despair remembered that Nightmare specifically enjoyed “the hunt,” chasing Despair, feeding off of his negative emotions… 

Despair went for the middle path, taking a guess, starting to sprint. A second to think gave him a break, but it was just time off his already short clock. He had limited time to get as far as possible, so he kept running. 

  
  


Despair ran until he could feel Nightmare’s aura drawing close. He had gotten so far, and yet he hadn’t seen _the_ door. He had to take corners and curves, getting lost in these endless hallways. He could have sworn he had seen that cat painting before. That was when he realized he hadn’t seen this corner before just ahead of him, hope filling his chest, but it briefly ended when he saw something move behind him from his peripheral vision. 

He gasped, ducking around the corner, recognizing it as Nightmare. Right as he had, tentacles reached for him but missed as he dodged. He was successful with evading Nightmare’s grasp, but he wouldn’t for long. Despair had to keep moving. He got up quickly, surprised he hadn’t fallen over with how much he was shaking, adrenaline pumping through him, making him forget how sore his legs felt. 

Despair ran forward, thinking he saw a corner ahead of him. Halfway down, he suddenly fell to the ground, his feet knocked from under him. As he landed on his chest, his hands trying to catch himself but failing as they slipped on the rug beneath him, he stayed down, the wind knocked out of him. He snapped back to reality, trying to get up before he felt a foot on his back shove him back to the ground. He gasped. He already knew who it was, grimacing at the thought, at the pain. 

“Ah… You ran further this time! New record,” Nightmare teased. 

Despair clenched the rug with his hands, gritting his teeth. “This isn’t a game!” He blurted, spitting it out venomously. 

Nightmare laughed. He must have leaned back, because the pressure over Despair’s back lessened. Despair prepared his legs to push himself out. When Nightmare kept laughing loudly, his laughter echoing the hallway, Despair launched himself out from under Nightmare, racing forward, hand outstretched when he skidded to a stop. He realized this was a _dead end_ , and there was no corner. The hallway ended with just a painting of Nightmare on his throne. It left a bitter taste in Despair’s nonexistent mouth. 

The ex-guardian tensed, feeling Nightmare walking up behind him. He whipped around, trying to possibly run around him, but Nightmare was closer than he thought. Nightmare placed a hand on his chest, pushing him to the wall close to the painting, the painting to the left of them. Nightmare was smirking casually, _like this was some game_. 

“Oh… but, Despair… this _is_ a game,” he whispered, leaning into Despair. 

“No—” Despair insisted, but a Nightmare’s other hand covered his mouth. 

With a laugh, Nightmare drawled, “ _I_ caught _you_ , and now… I get to keep you. That’s what this game is, Despair…” With that, Nightmare let go of his mouth, hand hovering over it just in case. Despair had the thought of biting him and attempting to run off, but Nightmare seemed to predict it, his teal eye glowing in response as he lowered a brow but said nothing. When Despair refrained, the glow dimmed to normal again as his smirk widened. He traced the side of Despair’s skull gently. “Good. Don’t try anything, and you’ll never be hurt.” 

At his touch, Despair slumped, no longer tense. If he didn’t fight it, if he enjoyed it, nothing bad would happen to him. Subconsciously he rubbed his wrist, remembering the time he cupped his hand over his bell and it resulted in the broken wrists… If he didn’t disobey, everything would be fine. 

_It’s not really submission. It’s just cooperation. I’m doing this for my safety. I need to,_ he tried to convince himself. Part of him didn’t want to completely submit like how he was now, but another part of him was tired, so very tired, especially from running. It doesn’t matter if he enjoys it… it’s not submission. 

  
  


Despair felt the hand over his chest move down to his left hip casually. He glanced at the painting solemnly, not even bothering to look at his captor. His “master.” The hand on his cheek moved to his other hip. Both of his hands started rubbing his fingers, pushing the fabric around as he rhythmically moved his hands back and forth over his hips. 

  
  


“Tired, aren’t you?” Nightmare asked, breaking the silence. Despair looked down at his feet, neutral expression. He could see what Nightmare was doing now. He couldn’t get away from this. “Tired of running… Tired of hiding… Tired of _pretending_ you don’t like being cared for… aren’t you?” Despair flinched, his brows furrowing upward. 

Despair didn’t respond. 

A finger lifted his chin up. “Come on. Say something.” He chuckled darkly as he added, “Your master is listening…” 

Despair looked up, meeting his gaze. Nightmare’s head was tilted and leaning into Despair’s, eye half-lidded, expression lax. He opened his mouth, knowing if he didn’t at least _show_ he was going to speak, Nightmare would force him to. His “suggestions” were never really suggestions. They were orders; commands. He closed his mouth, not sure how to respond, closing his sockets tiredly, wanting to lower his head and cower before Nightmare… Maybe that would make Nightmare leave him alone. 

He felt the bell attached to his collar flick up and back down, ringing. Nightmare must have flicked it. That’s what it felt like. 

“Maybe you don’t need to,” Nightmare suggested. “After all…” Despair opened his eyes, seeing Nightmare move his face even closer, just a couple inches apart. “Actions _do_ speak louder than words, don’t they? Hm?” Nightmare added the rest of his hand to Despair’s chin, trailing his hand up and down his chin slowly. “What do you have to offer?” 

The only thing he had was himself, and Nightmare knew that. 

Despair took in a breath before kissing Nightmare on the lips, very gently. He was tired. He didn’t have the energy to go the full mile, he had already gone the full mile… or, at least, that’s what it had felt like. 

Nightmare separated his mouth after returning the kiss momentarily, though his face was still touching Despair’s as he purred, “Very well.” He kissed Despair, surprisingly moving gently, at Despair’s pace. Despair had forgotten how easily he could fall into Nightmare’s traps when he went so gentle. He was already blushing again, lifting up his hands, only to do nothing with them, too scared he might mess something up. 

Nightmare knew Despair’s hands were raised, trailing the hands from his hips up his sides before letting go, grabbing his wrists and planting them on his own shoulders and holding them in place. Nightmare’s lips moved with Despair’s, still gentle, no hastiness. 

“Good boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I finished writing, the song "Bloom" came up, like the one in the animation meme, and I thought it kinda matched with this fic, or at least some part of this chapter, probably the part where Passive gets his wrist broken. Maybe that's just me. 
> 
> Despair's wrist really went ➡️➡️⬆️⬇️➡️
> 
> I'm glad my writer's block died when I was writing this lool, got it written in just a day.


	5. Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, he breaks.

From the aftermath of before—which also got out of hand as usual—Despair was now sleeping in _Nightmare’s_ bedroom after having dinner. Believe it or not, Nightmare normally sleeps alone, but this time he decided it would be easier just to drag his self-proclaimed pet to his bedroom to crash. 

His bed was huge. It’s not like Despair’s bed _wasn’t_ big, it’s certainly an upgrade compared to before, ~~even before the incident~~ , but Nightmare’s bed was gigantic compared to it. At least, in Despair’s opinion. Nightmare mentioned briefly that it was a King-sized bed, the “size fit for a king,” which just disgusted Despair that there was a _size_ named after the role Nightmare called himself. Maybe he was a king, Despair wasn’t sure, but he didn’t exactly see any “subjects” around. 

Though, Nightmare did have a castle. So that was something. 

At least with this bed, Nightmare wasn’t practically laying on top of him. Now, there were two full sides of the bed, and a giant gap between him and Nightmare. Nightmare took the right side of the bed, facing towards the center of the bed ~~towards Despair~~ , Despair faced away from him, his brows furrowed as his gaze landed on the window in front of him. The window was huge, especially in comparison to the single, small window in his room. Actually, this room was huge compared to his room. _Everything_ in this room was _so much bigger_ than Despair’s. Reasonably so, anyways. Despair didn’t need big things to make him happy. 

At that thought, Despair let his mind wander, trying to recall the last time he was truly happy. 

Oh, right, during that time he was having that denial phase—the whole “I’m going to repress all my memories so they can’t hurt me” move. Honestly, that failed. Worked for some time until he just broke down in front of Nightmare and became weak to him yet again, searching for comfort from someone who would never in a million years give it to him. It was just a weakness Nightmare saw and exploited. 

Was he going to see the library now? Who knows. Maybe Nightmare forgot. Maybe Nightmare thought that Despair forgot, so he chose to let it go, moving on. Something Nightmare would do. 

  
  


As his mind wandered, he suddenly thought back to what Nightmare said all those years ago. He thought he would have completely forgotten about it, but he hadn’t… It must have been on the back of his mind until now. 

_“I’m not the one who caused me to exist, and I’m_ certainly _not the one who lashed out to my brother and blamed him for everything you’ve done.”_

Despair cringed. 

_He’s right. He’s absolutely right._

_If I hadn’t snapped, if I hadn’t done any of that, if I had just trusted him… I wouldn’t be here. He wouldn’t be_ ** _dead._ ** _The tree would be safe, our mother would be fine, the apples would all still be intact—But now, Nightmare has all of the apples, Nightmare reigns dominion over all, Nightmare is_ ** _king_ **_over everyone, and all because of_ ** _me._ ** _This is all my fault._

 _I deserve all of this._

“I deserve this after taking my brother for granted and getting him **killed** ,” Despair whimpered, holding himself and curling up in a ball and clinging to the bed as tears pooled in his sockets. He grimaced, gritting his teeth, letting the lavender tears fall down his face and whimpering. “I deserve everything. I deserve what Nightmare does, I deserve to act like—no, _be_ his _pet_. I deserve to submit to him, after everything I’ve done,” he hissed, trying to keep his voice low as for Nightmare not to hear. Maybe if he did wake up, he would feel Despair’s negativity and find something about him enjoyable. As he shifted in bed, curling in on himself, the bell jingled slightly and he flinched. He cupped it with his hand, tracing over the holes. His tense body eased. Suddenly he felt apathetic. “Why do I care?” He murmured. “He’s right. Why do I fight it?” He cracked a smile as his brows lowered, his fingers starting to shake as he traced the hole quicker, thumbing the bell. “This is my collar for a fucking reason. I belong to Nightmare, it’s only fair, I deserve it. I deserve to be just an _item_. I deserve everything. So why do I fight it? I’m only making things worse for myself. I honestly might as well _give up_.” Despair felt more tears spill into his sockets as he furrowed his brows again and uttered, “No one will love me anyway.” 

At those words he choked, starting to sob as he let go of the collar and held his sides. His knees were close to his face now. Curled tightly into a ball. He tried his best to keep his crying quiet. Nightmare may be on the opposite side of the bed, but he was still facing Despair, and he was still close to him. His body would shake as he cried. 

As he felt sleep tugging at him, he cried, letting sleep take him. Solemnly, he accepted his fate of cooperativeness, of compliance. 

_“Nothing bad will happen as long as you obey.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Filler chapter, plus some more angst
> 
> I think this has to be one of the shortest chapters I've ever written.


	6. Shell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmare shows off his trophy.

Despair seemed dull, not as difficult to work with, and more compliant. He allowed Nightmare to do whatever he pleased and never complained or spoke up about it, never protested, never moved away, or tried to deny said actions. In fact, Despair seemed to lean into his touch automatically, embracing it, almost. It was cute to Nightmare, really. He appreciated it. It made things so much simpler… although more boring. He’d get used to it. Despair’s actions weren’t quite right, though—Nightmare could sense absolute despondency from Despair… and that was most likely the cause of these actions. 

After 24 hours, noting that the same behavior even carried out to the next day, Nightmare decided to run an experiment. He left Despair’s room, telling him “I hope you’ve had a good meal” before leaving, and left the door open. 

He came back an hour later. Despair was sitting on the window’s seat, reading a book. As he entered, he noticed Despair didn’t even react, even after loudly pressing himself against the door, watching him, trying his best to announce his presence. Despair didn’t move, just kept reading, a neutral expression on his face as he flipped the page. 

  
  


This was definitely something. 

  
  


Either Despair was trying to trick him into thinking he could leave him alone to do things, or he was genuinely giving up. Only time would tell… because pretending never lasts forever. His previous phase didn’t last forever. 

Admirable, really, the fact Despair was still trying to search for coping mechanisms. 

* * *

How long has it been? A week? 

Time has passed since that night, the night Despair finally resigned, finally gave up. Letting himself be taken by Nightmare completely. Ever since that night, he has done nothing but let himself be taken by his master. Despite not speaking a word to Nightmare about this, somehow, it seemed like Nightmare already noticed what was going on.

Acting “submissive,” according to Nightmare’s terms, was actually working out for Despair. 

He wasn’t trying to forget all that Nightmare had done to him, he wasn’t trying to forget the fact that Nightmare was manipulative and cunning and would do anything to get what he wants—he accepted the fact that he was here because of his own fault, and he deserved this, and… It wasn’t so bad. No longer running away, no longer panicking when Nightmare came into his room, no pretending he was innocent, nothing. Just complete and blatant misery. 

  
  


How long had he even been here? He certainly wasn’t keeping track. It didn’t matter, anyways. Suffering is endless, even after it ends, all he knows is he’s been here, he is here, and will be here for who knows how long. Why not an eternity? 

Death is eternal, so that would certainly make up for the fact his long-lost friend was dead. Someone so close to him he considered him a brother, though he wasn’t sure Dream would feel the same if he was still alive. Dream would probably hate him. He deserved that after taking him for granted. 

Despair deserved everything bad that has ever happened to him, and more. 

  
  
  


A few days ago, when Despair was changing out his outfit after taking a bath, Nightmare was standing just outside of Despair’s small bathroom—he realized that there was no shirt. At first, he thought it was some type of mistake. After putting on the pants, Despair chuckled, asking, “Uh… Where’s my shirt? Do you have it?” 

There was silence for just a moment. Despair felt his eye twitch slightly. He couldn’t lose his cool, he told himself, so he silently sucked in a breath and waited. Plus, he didn’t want any possible punishment on his way. He wanted a nice, long streak, clean of any punishments. 

Finally, Nightmare responded, nonchalantly answering, “… Oh. Right. I forgot to mention. I lost your shirt as it was getting cleaned, something happened. Don’t worry. I’ll get it back—get a new one. In the meantime, you’ll be shirtless.” 

Despair nodded. He was already getting used to ignoring problems. This might bother him some, but he won’t let it get to him. Nightmare was probably lying about “losing it,” and that “something happened.” What could possibly happen that would make _Nightmare_ lose his shirt? He didn’t complain, though. Maybe Nightmare was telling the truth and Despair was just being selfish and arrogant. 

Despair sighed. “… Okay.” He straightened his position, unlocking the door. “Well, I finished getting dressed, then.” 

The door opened, showing Nightmare in front of him. His master looked him over and smirked. He stepped into the bathroom. By second nature, Despair wanted to cringe away—he had to refrain from flinching, holding in place. He didn’t care. He didn’t need to, as long as he behaved. 

As Nightmare got close, he reached for the collar that was next to the sink, his teal pupil lazily going over Despair’s body and back up to his face again, meeting his gaze with his half-lidded eye. When he stopped, the tip of his free hand lightly drew over his ribcage, from the bottom to the top, reaching his collar bone where he gripped with his hand. Despair inhaled shakily and blushed lightly, looking away, staring at the close wall, neutral expression on his face. 

Nightmare let go of his collarbone and used that hand to grab his right cheek, lifting up his head as he grabbed the collar from the sink and put it to his neck. Despair let him do what he needed to do, uncaring, his sockets half-lidded tiredly. He felt the hand let go so he could fix the collar and put it on properly. Nightmare said nothing, just clipping the collar on, tapping the bell for good measure to hear the slight tingle of noise, fully standing up again and looking down at Despair. Despair felt very small, his position slumping some even more as he looked up at Nightmare. 

  
  


A moment passed. Nightmare watched Despair, his expression calculating as he bore his gaze into Despair’s. Despair simply held still. After a second, he shuddered, still maintaining eye contact. Breaking it momentarily, only for his eyes to lock back onto Nightmare’s. 

Finally, Nightmare blinked, breaking the silence as he asked, “You aren’t in denial again, are you?” 

Despair blinked up at him. He stiffened some at the question. “No,” he answered simply. 

Nightmare’s smile widened slightly. “Interesting,” was all he mused in response, turning around and walking out of the bathroom, motioning for Despair to follow. 

Reluctantly, Despair huffed out a sigh, following suit anyways. He turned off the lights and shut the door behind him, following Nightmare, who was standing by his bed, hands in his jacket pockets, his gaze trained on Despair’s every move, analyzing him every second. Despair chose to ignore it. There wasn’t anything he could do to change Nightmare’s actions, anyways, no matter what it was. 

He wanted to say, “You’re staring” blatantly, but he didn’t think that was a very submissive thing to do. If it wasn’t submissive, he could get punished for it, and generally, those comments just weren’t worth the time and effort or consequences. 

  
  


When Nightmare stood close to Nightmare, glancing at his face and then awkwardly shifting his position as he let himself look elsewhere, Nightmare spoke again. “What if I bring you to the throne again?” He suggested. 

Remember. Suggestions like these ones are never truly suggestions. 

Despair didn’t look back. His brows furrowed some at the thought of the throne, at what happened there the first time he had gone. How he had embarrassed himself in front of two other people. _What happened when they got back_. 

His eyelights briefly flicked to the window. Nightmare had that area cleaned since then. He refrained from shuddering, looking back at Nightmare. “Hm,” was all he mused. Despair already knew that Nightmare would do whatever he wanted anyway. Why protest? 

Nightmare blinked, cocking his head ever-so-slightly, you could have missed it. “That isn’t a no,” he stated. 

Despair shrugged. “No, it wasn’t a no.” 

The corruption smiled at that. “Great, so we’ll go, then,” Nightmare confirmed. 

“Guess so.” 

  
  


Nightmare watched him for a moment. It looked like he was about to reply, he could see it, but Nightmare ultimately decided against it as he turned away, expecting Despair to follow as he opened the door. Doing what was expected of him, Despair followed him. 

  
  


As they began to walk down the halls, Nightmare looked back and said, “Now. I have a team, currently with four members. They are all in the castle at this moment.” 

Despair looked up to Nightmare as he spoke, paying attention to what he was telling him. He perked an eyebrow slightly at the mention of other people in the castle. Didn’t Nightmare want Despair as secluded as possible? Has that changed? Despair clearly remembered Nightmare warning Despair that if anyone without Nightmare’s permission was speaking to Despair or had reached him, he would immediately kill them without hesitation, and it would be Despair’s fault. Despair shuddered at the thought. 

Nightmare smirked, knowing what had crossed Despair’s mind, but did not say anything. “I’ve decided it doesn’t matter if other people know you exist,” Nightmare explained. “As long as they keep their nose out of what’s not their business, you and them will be fine. _However_. If I find out you’ve been encouraging someone to get you, you will be punished, and they will be killed, do you understand? Am I clear?” 

Despair nodded automatically, moving his head quickly. “Yes.” 

Nightmare looked ahead again, smiling. “Good.” 

Silence again as they walked, reaching the large door and moving on. 

  
  


“Maybe later I can even show you the library like I promised I would, especially if no one interferes with _you and I._ How does that sound?” Nightmare asked, not looking back at Despair. 

“That would be nice,” Despair responded haphazardly, uncaring at this point. He loved books, though, so that was definitely something to look forward to. 

“Good, good.” 

  
  


Eventually, they made it to the throne room. Did this take less time than he remembered? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t care, either. Regardless, they were here now. 

Nightmare sat down on the throne. There was only one shadow Papyrus here today. What happened to the other one? Despair gulped, trying not to make assumptions. 

Nightmare patted his lap, indicating Despair to sit on his lap. Just like before, except he had been picked up after being told he chooses to submit to him. Horrible reminders. Obediently, Despair crawled into Nightmare’s lap, the bell ringing as he moved onto his legs. His back rested against Nightmare’s chest as he stiffly sat there. He wasn’t comfortable… yet. Despair was aware that Nightmare would try to make it so. He was familiar with Nightmare’s tricks and schemes. Why else would he bring him here again? 

Now, with Despair on his master’s lap, there was really only one thing left to do for Nightmare. 

A finger reached for his cheek, holding his face. Despite this, Despair stared at the wall ahead of him, uncaring, apathetic. 

“You’re really doing this?” Nightmare asked. 

Despair simply nodded. “You’ve said it multiple times. I belong to you. You’re my master. I’m your pet,” Despair stated, almost like it was obvious. Which it was. 

The ex-guardian could tell that threw Nightmare off, some, but he came back stronger. He gripped Despair’s chin and forced him to look at him as he growled, “You aren’t just doing this to make me trust you, are you?!” 

Despair lazily looked up at Nightmare. Despite his possibly stoic, uncaring appearance, he could feel the insides of him quaking. The way Nightmare’s normally-dim glow brightened some in warning as it narrowed to a prick, staring into Despair as he questioned him—it was terrifying, really. He didn’t want to be hurt anymore. 

He bit his lip. He answered, “What would even be the point anymore. You always catch me anyway…” As he said this, he felt himself calm down. If he told Nightmare what the truth was, what he wanted him to hear, too, then nothing bad would happen, everything would be all right. 

Nightmare’s face eased. He seemed satisfied with Despair’s response, or at least his response in emotions, smiling. “Oh… Good to hear. I’m glad you finally understand, hm? I’m in charge here.” 

Despair nodded stiffly. Nightmare let go of his face, instead beginning to pet Despair. Despair softened at his gentle strokes. 

“Very good boy… Aren’t you?” Nightmare cooed in praise. 

Despair closed his sockets, letting himself rest against Nightmare, moving his body so that his whole right side was against Nightmare. This was nice, actually. Just taking everything. Absentmindedly, Despair muttered, “I’m a good boy…” 

Nightmare chuckled at that, his chest rumbling, Despair feeling the vibrations. 

His sockets cracked open when he felt Nightmare cup one of his cheeks and lift his head gently. They closed again softly when Nightmare kissed him on the mouth hastily. Despair was tired, but he complied, moving his lips weakly, only for Nightmare to dominate him. Despair let out a noise of complaint. After a moment, Nightmare surprisingly separated his mouth. 

Despair wasn’t sure why, until he leaned himself over Despair, his face close to his ribs, his gaze meeting Despair’s. Despair gulped, watching him. His corruption chuckled as his mouth opened, his tongue licking across his lips and over his teeth. He proceeded to press his teeth to the left side of his ribcage, his teeth against some of Despair’s ribs and his sternum. Despair exhaled, quivering some. He could tell where Nightmare was going with this, but didn’t prepare himself enough when Nightmare bit down on his bone. 

Despair gasped, hand covering his mouth as he squeezed his sockets, biting his hand to keep himself quiet. This hurt. 

Nightmare moved from place to place. Coating his body with marks and bites, trailing his tongue over ribs and between them as he went. All Despair could do was watch as small tears pricked his eye sockets out of the pain and surprise. He held his breath, for the most part, stiff. 

When Nightmare finally straightened his position, still leaning over Despair, though, Despair eased. His mouth let go of his hand, the hand falling to his side, gripping Nightmare’s shorts, a slightly concerned expression over Despair’s face as he looked up at Nightmare.

  
  


“Now, how do you belong to?” Nightmare asked, grinning. His eye moved over his ribcage, proud of his work as he again licked his lips, cleaning the blood from his teeth. 

Despair immediately responded shakily, “You.” 

Nightmare cocked his head as he mockingly looked down at Despair. “That’s right…” His grin was wide. Nightmare’s gaze flicked to elsewhere and he tilted his head some to ahead of them, almost pointing to something. “Looks like we have visitors, hmm? Or… daresay an audience,” he purred, grinning more. 

Hesitantly, after gulping, Despair slowly looked to where Nightmare was referring to. To see who it was he was implying. In front of him, a little ways off but still watching him and Nightmare, were three distinguishable people. One was someone with a hoodie and a red scarf, not really paying much attention from what Despair could tell, chatting to himself, and the other two… were watching them directly. One looked as though he was taking great interest in what was going on. He was wearing a jacket, his skeletal hands stuffed into his pockets, pitch-black goopy tears streaking down his face as he smirked. Despair could _feel_ him staring directly at him, despite not having any visible pupils. Despair shivered, looking at the other one. The other one was a skeleton with a monochrome color scheme of clothes, and a visible red scratch across his right cheek, the corresponding pupil was red. His scarf was big, and so was the fluff on his jacket. Odd outfit, but to Despair, it reminded him of his old clothes from before the incident… The monochrome skeleton had his arms limply by his side as he grimaced some, appearing as though he wasn’t sure if he should or even wanted to be here at this moment. 

“Killer, Cross, Dust…” Nightmare hummed, letting a finger dance across the back of Despair’s neck, forcing him to shudder as he squinted his eye sockets, furrowing his brows as he panted briefly. He held in his breath, momentarily forgetting about the audience, only to crack open his closest eye socket to look at them. Despair knew very well that Nightmare was listing names. He also knew that he was trying to put on a _show_ for the audience. The audience was even possibly _invited_ , but, based on the look of the monochrome skeleton, they might not have also known they would have walked in on this. “Welcome to the show, hmm?~” He mused, adding two more fingers, brushing them close to Despair’s spot. Despair huffed loudly, inhaling sharply and holding in his breath again and pushing his face into Nightmare’s chest and gripped his clothes with his hands, feeling the desire mounting. “Leave if you want to, stay if you wish, do as you please, I don’t care.” Despite Despair not seeing, Nightmare grinned as he added, “Just enjoy the show while it lasts~” 

Despair’s grip immediately loosened. 

He heard one of them speak, but he didn’t dare look, he was too ashamed. Blushing out of embarrassment, he didn’t need to know that people were watching him, seeing his bare chest covered with bruises. “Wow, boss… When did you drag _that_ in? And from _where?_ ” He heard the speaker laugh. Part of him already knew who it was. He could hear footsteps, but he wasn’t sure if he was just adjusting his standing position or moving closer. 

Nightmare simply chuckled. Despair felt his pants shift down some, Nightmare letting his fingers draw over Despair’s hips. Despair shivered. Nightmare then replied, “Oh… A long time ago…” Cheekily, he asked slowly, teasingly, “It’s been a long while, hasn’t it, Despair?” His finger pressed into his hip bones more, going over them, dipping further into his pants. 

Despair just nodded, face still pressed to his chest as he was starting to get comfortable again. Right as he was starting to, he felt Nightmare let go of his hips and grabbed his sides, forcing Despair to move from his chest and rolling him to face everyone, effectively showing himself to everyone in the throne room yet again. To the Papyrus next to the throne, to the goopy-eyed skeleton who had moved close and was just a yard away with a cocked head, eye sockets lit with interest—the one that was talking to himself earlier was gone, but the monochrome one was still present, standing where he was before, awkwardly shuffling in place as he glanced away. Despair’s eyes flicked to everywhere in the room frantically as he held in his breath, but the rest of him remained calm. 

  
  


“Look at you, Despair. Covered in bruises made by me. What better way to show you’re mine but to show it to others as well?” Nightmare teased, holding the wrist closest to him. “I’d really love to show off my pet.” 

Despair shifted slightly, moving his legs uncomfortably at the position, just over Nightmare’s knees as he laid over them. Nightmare noted the position, pulling him close to him and supporting his head with his chest, but still showing his rib to potentially everyone in the room. Despair went limp. He felt like a ragdoll. He couldn’t let himself get carried away. Just remain submissive, he told himself. 

“Wow,” the goopy-eyed skeleton uttered simply, looking over Despair with a curious and interested look. 

Nightmare growled quietly. This immediately got the skeleton’s attention. He perked up as Nightmare let out a snarl, grinning as he threatened, “You better keep those hands to yourself, Killer. I know you’re not good at keeping your dick in your pants, but he’s _mine_ , and you better get that through your skull. Don’t get any ideas.” 

“In one ear and out the other,” Killer, the goopy-eyed skeleton, replied sarcastically, rocking on his feet some as he let out a careless laugh. It seemed clear to Despair that Killer truly didn’t care about any kind of consequence. 

His master did not respond to the joke, simply cupping Despair’s left cheek, the one away from him, and rubbing it. Despair shut his eyes, leaning into it. “There you go. Relax, hmm?” He purred. He let go of Despair’s wrist with his other hand he brushed his fingertips over Despair’s ribcage, going past his sternum to the other side. Despair shivered at his touch, again blushing, letting out a timid noise of pleasure. His ribcage was especially sensitive now, with all the bite marks and bruises on them. Despair was looking up at Nightmare, his master, who was this time looking over his body, mostly his ribcage. 

Nightmare smirked, his grin thin but wide as he cupped under his cheek and tilted his head to face the others. He moved his head close to Despair’s. “Now, Despair. Why don’t you tell them who you are…?” He prompted. 

Despair already knew what to say. He gulped momentarily. He didn’t take long to get himself to say, “I’m nobody. I belong to Nightmare. That’s all I’m good for.” He blushed after saying that, squeezing his sockets shut, but not moving his head out of Nightmare’s hand. He didn’t want to fight against him anymore. He would let himself be Nightmare’s pet. 

“Very good,” was all Nightmare said in response to Despair. He looked up at what was left of his crew. “I’ve trained him very well, see…” He explained darkly. “I’ve broken him.” Sinisterly, his grin widened, the corners of his mouth showing his teeth, his mouth opening as he let a tongue lick across his teeth. Despair opened his eyes again to see this, the hand still holding Despair’s head, rubbing him some. 

  
  


The ex-guardian’s gaze glanced at Cross. They made direct eye contact and maintained it for a good second before Cross tore it away. 

It almost seemed like… Cross felt bad for Despair. Maybe even felt sympathy. 

But he couldn’t tell. 

  
  


Nightmare was laughing, pulling up Despair closer to him, a tentacle moving his collar down and making room for his mouth. “I need to replace your old mark, don’t I?” Nightmare suggested, already making his move and biting down on his neck. Despair let out a cry of both pleasure and pain. It felt good, and yet it felt so bad, and it really hurt as Nightmare sunk his teeth into his neck. 

Despair had subconsciously wrapped his arms around Nightmare gripping him. “Nightmare,” he moaned huffily. “Th-That… hurts…” 

Nightmare chuckled, pulling away after he had made the bruise, licking his lips over his teeth for the umpteenth time. “I’m aware.” He smirked. Despair closed his sockets, feeling the tentacle let the collar go slack again, and soon, he felt Nightmare draw his knuckles over his face, caressing him as he had before.

“Mmmm,” Despair mumbled. 

“You’ve been so obedient. You deserve a treat, don’t you?” Nightmare suggested. 

Despair let his eyes open some. He already knew what Nightmare was implying, but said nothing. 

Nightmare’s grin widened as he whispered, “Come on. You deserve it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never really said anything, but naturally, I don't portray Killer and Nightmare as QUITE this bad. Normally, Nightmare is a bad person, just less than this, and the same goes for Killer. 
> 
> Anyways, that's all for part one of the From Despair to Hope series, His Despair. I hope you enjoyed it ? Thanks for reading all the way through :,D
> 
> With that said, just because this fanfiction ends here, doesn't mean it will elsewhere... Honestly, I might even make spin-off oneshots, or oneshots where things happened but just weren't shown in this particular fic, so stay tuned for that. I'm also open to suggestions/requests (just keep in mind that they are requests and I don't have to do them). I'm always looking for stuff to write!! Plus I'm bad with ideas. This is one of few fanfictions I've written with a plot that actually finished.  
> The requests can go for anything really, between ships to dynamics or fanfiction tropes, honestly just don't feel worried about shooting it to me?? If I don't like it, I won't criticize you for it
> 
> On another note, if /you/ want to make spin-off stuff? Take inspiration? I say go for it honestly  
> Just make sure to link my fic somehow if you take inspiration or make a spin-off. Just don't completely copy it cause :(  
> I'm not sure if I'm using the term "spin-off" correctly but, what I mean is, if you say, "I want to write a scenario based on what happens in this fic," that would be a spin-off ? Right? Lol Idek- Just have fun with that. Pllllease tell me if you do, because I'd really love to see that. It's in my orbit, so I'd at least want to check it out, see if I want to read it, which I most likely will
> 
> Anyways, have a good day!! Again, thank you for reading this far!


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